Salvation
by Tijuana Pirate
Summary: Two people: one is slightly amoral and the other is less pure than you would think. For Turks secrets are a necessity of life but between Turks there should be, above all else, honesty. Funny how it never works out that way. TsengElena fic.
1. Salvation: Chapter 1

Author's Note: Well, this is going to be interesting. I'm sick, exhausted, and on Nyquil. Any sane person would just give in and go to bed. Instead, I'm going to write a Tseng/Elena fic.  
Who's to blame: Unfortunately, I have to lay the blame on the very talented Zeng Li and Anime Faerie. Anime Faerie's story A Comfort Thing gave me the guts to write something like this and Zeng Li's Turks Party sparked the story. Thank you guys. For good of for ill, you are my muses tonight.  
One more thing: Incidentally, I just wanted to warn whoever is reading this that my Elena is going to be a little bit different from what people usually stereotype her as. I also wanted to say that the rating in the piece is very well deserved. If that bothers you, please don't bother reading this just to flame me. Believe me though when I say that I am going somewhere with this. Plot will follow! I promise!  
  
*Warning: Rated R for sexual content*  
  
~ Salvation ~  
  
Tseng walked a bit behind Elena. She was content to chatter on, oblivious to the fact that Tseng wasn't really listening. He was looking.  
Tseng eyed Elena's smooth curves that swayed as she walked. That soft blonde hair of hers was bouncing as she moved, caressing the back of her neck.  
Maybe it was the alcohol. Gods knew he had drunk enough of it. The Turks had gone out tonight. Reno and Rude had left a little while ago and so now it was just Tseng and Elena. Elena, who was walking ahead of him, her hips swaying rhythmically.  
It would be so easy, a voice whispered to him. Tseng knew how she felt about him. Elena wouldn't stop him.  
A part of him argued it was wrong but Tseng stomped that out immediately. Without really thinking, he snatched forward and grabbed Elena's hand. She gasped as she spun around and found herself pressed against Tseng's chest. She looked up, startled and confused. Tseng looked down at her, squinted slightly as he looked her full in the face. Then, he bent down and pressed his lips against hers.  
It was a rough, hard kiss. Her mouth opened and his tongue slid in. She moaned a little as he kissed her. Elena wrapped her hands around his neck, pushing him further against her. Tseng granted her wish and pushed deeper. He felt a long, feminine leg slide up against his.  
Far too soon a lack of oxygen pushed them apart. Breathless, Elena looked up to Tseng and he made himself meet her gaze, made himself see that look that she was giving him, knowing that no such thing was reflected in his eyes.  
A part of him screamed that he didn't have to wait, that he could have her right now here in the back of this alley but that was just too low.  
"Come on." Tseng said, his voice rough.  
They ran the two blocks to his apartment.  
  
Breathless from the long run and from something else, they leaned against the door of Tseng's apartment. With fumbling hands, Tseng unlocked the door. They both stumbled forward. Instantly, Tseng's mouth found hers. Her fingers twinned up in his hair, pushing him closer. Tseng kicked the door shut behind him and his hands traveled up her form. They stumbled towards the bedroom.  
  
They hit the bed with a soft thunk. With practiced hands, Tseng pulled off Elena's blouse. She helped him shrug out of his shirt. Seeing the black lace of her bra, Tseng buried his face in Elena's soft cleavage. There was a quiet click and soon all Elena could feel was his mouth, his tongue, his fingers. She gasped and cried out her pleasure. The rest of their clothes fell away leaving their bodies intermingled. Tseng felt the sensation grow inside him, almost to a point of pain and a new pressure was pressed fast against Elena's legs.  
"Oh Tseng! Please. . . wait!" Elena gasped against him. With the last of his self-control, Tseng did. He took her higher with him, until her cries echoed in the room. Then, a singular note entered her voice as she cried out his name. Her entreaties filled his ear.  
Two soft legs brushed up against him  
"Oh, please. . ." She gasped.  
Tseng found his way into her. He stopped thinking. The world stopped turning. All there was was sensation and the sound of Elena's voice as she cried out again and again and again.  
  
Afterward, sweaty and exhausted, they disentangled themselves from one and other. Tseng rolled over onto his back and Elena lay down, the length of her body pressed against his side. Tseng rested his eyes and dozed.  
It wasn't long before he felt feminine fingers brushing against his skin. Two lips pressed against his chest.  
Tseng opened his eyes and looked down at Elena. She looked up at him and smiled.  
"How long?" she asked quietly. Tseng gave her a confused look.  
"Until you can. . ." Suddenly, he understood. Was she that. . .?  
"About an hour," he said, equally quiet. He closed his eyes again but opened them almost instantly when he felt those fingertips brushing against him.  
"Elena?" he asked. Tseng felt her smile against his skin before she looked up again.  
"Have you ever heard of the Honey Bee Inn?" Tseng was not normally a man to act surprised but Elena had posed her question in such a normal voice and it was so unexpected that he couldn't help but start. Elena chuckled low in her throat.  
"I worked there for two years." She lowered her head back to his chest and caressed him again.  
"One hour, Tseng," she breathed against his skin.  
Suddenly, he understood what she was suggesting. One hour of these soft caresses, these tiny fires that she was lighting across his form.  
"Elena you don't. . ." Suddenly, she did something with her tongue and a groan welled up in his throat, cutting him off. *You don't have to*, he finished mentally.  
Tseng felt her lips trail up his neck until they were pressed against his ear.  
"I know," she whispered, "but you waited for me. . . This is my thank you." Then, she nipped his ear playfully and her hands went back to her task.  
  
Soon, the fire across Tseng grew and soon he found his lips seeking out hers and his fingers sneaking up to entangle themselves in her hair. A moment, an eternity passed before their caresses grew more fevered. Soon, Tseng felt that sweet pressure again but he delayed.  
Elena opened her eyes and sought his.  
"Tseng, you don't. . ." He silenced her by pressing his lips against hers again, his tongue sliding in. Then, he moved to her neck, his tongue teasing her flesh. He waited. He wanted to hear that note in her voice again.  
Their motions intensified and soon she couldn't take it anymore. Elena cried out and smooth legs graced him. Warmth flooded through him as she guided him deep, deep down. 


	2. Salvation: Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Hmm, not much to say for this one beyond the fact that I still remain mildly surprised that I'm writing this. Then again, it is fun so I can't really complain. *smiles*. Oh, and fanfiction.net was giving me a bit of a headache when I was trying to write my summary. I'm not sure if it said it or not but the quotation "You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving." is by Amy Carmichael, not me. I'm not a plagiarist. *wink*  
  
~ Salvation (2) ~  
  
Tseng rolled over, expecting to feel Elena's warm body beside his. Instead, there was just a cold space.  
Totally awake now, Tseng sat up in bed and looked around him. Elena's clothes were still on the floor around his bed, as were his. That must mean that she was still in his apartment.  
As if to verify that theory, he heard some water being ran in the kitchen. Tseng tossed off the covers from his bed and looked around for something to wear. Once he was dressed, Tseng picked up his clothes from last night and threw them in the dirty clothes bin. Well, that was, everything except his shirt. He hadn't been able to find it.  
Tseng paused a little when he saw the clothes Elena has been wearing last night. *Ever heard of. . .?* Now *that* had been unexpected.  
Tseng picked her clothes up off of the ground and placed them on the bed. Well, that was, everything except her pants. He couldn't find *those* either. Mentally shrugging it off, he headed out to his kitchen.  
  
"Good morning," Elena greeted him from over her shoulder. She was facing the sink, its water running. It took a moment for Tseng to realize what Elena was doing; she was washing dishes.  
Elena turned back to her dishes and continued talking to him with her back facing him.  
"I hope you don't mind that I made myself a bit of breakfast. I was just cleaning up. I put some coffee on; it should be done in a few minutes. You're out of milk though so I hope you like yours black."  
Tseng looked at her, stunned. There she was, her blonde hair still mussed from last night. She was wearing his shirt, which was far too big for her. Elena was practically swimming in his navy blue shirt that went down way past her waist. She was also wearing the missing pants, he realized. It wasn't her appearance that disturbed him though. It was this homemaker quality, this quiet domestic scene. Elena was in his kitchen, cleaning dishes. He didn't know why that bothered him so much but it did.  
Elena seemed to notice something in his silence because she turned around to face him again.  
"You don't mind, do you, Tseng?"  
He didn't know what to say. Instead, he nodded towards the shirt she was wearing.  
"That's my shirt."  
Elena turned back to her dishes suddenly, but not before he saw the slight tinge of pink that crept up on her cheeks.  
"You ripped mine."  
Tseng walked forward to the sink. He stood beside Elena but she didn't look over at him, concentrating instead on her dishes. Tseng turned off the faucet. She looked up at him, a stray strand of blonde hair falling in front of her face.  
"You don't have to do that."  
Elena stood there, staring at him, and swallowed hard. Then, suddenly, her eyes darted away from his and she walked away from him.  
Tseng watched her walk and frowned slightly.  
"You have a really nice place here," Elena said, adding a dose of false cheerfulness to her voice.  
Tseng surveyed his stylishly decorated apartment. He supposed that it qualified as 'nice'. Shin-ra paid him enough to have a 'nice' place. Elena wandered through the open doorway to his living room. She gestured to encompass the room.  
"I mean, look at this. Gorgeous furniture. . . and what a entertainment system!"  
Elena looked back over her shoulder at him, and smiled slightly. Tseng walked forward and leaned against the doorframe. Elena's eyes widened a little and she turned away from him.  
"Look at all those books!" She gestured to the bookshelf that was filled with hard covers that were a class apart from typical mass-produced volumes.  
"Have you read all of them?" Elena asked.  
Actually, he hadn't read any of them. Tseng really didn't know why he had them. Maybe it was a little bit like the television that Elena had just been admiring. Tseng couldn't remember the last time that it had been on.  
He walked forward and picked up a smaller, older book. It was leather bound and dusty. He hadn't picked it up in a long time. Tseng handed it to Elena.  
"I read this one."  
She took the unmarked book from him. Puzzled, she flipped through its pages but she couldn't read the language it was written in.  
"Is it Wutaian?"  
Tseng nodded.  
"Oh. . ."  
Elena placed the book down on the coffee table, delicately, as if she was afraid she would shatter the volume. She straightened and turned to face him slowly.  
"Tseng. . ." Impulsively, Tseng leaned forward to kiss her. He didn't really want her to talk anymore.  
Elena's eyes widened slightly when he kissed her but she soon closed them and enjoyed the moment. Tseng backed her onto the couch and Elena lay down against it easily.  
  
This time, when Elena woke up, she stayed where she was for a little while. Her brown eyes were open, staring at the room around her. It really was nice; the kind of place you saw in a decorating magazine. She blushed a little, thinking about her own modest apartment. Her eyes trailed down to the small book on the table in front of her, a thoughtful expression on her face.  
After a while, the awkwardness of her cramped position on the couch made its presence known to Elena. She stood up languidly and stretched. Elena started to walk away from the couch when she felt a hand reach out to grab her wrist. She gasped and turned around to see Tseng looking up at her, his hand holding her wrist lightly.  
For a moment, she was locked in his gaze. He didn't say anything, didn't move, but, for a moment, she couldn't budge. Then, her eyes snapped away from his and she looked down.  
"I have to get ready," she mumbled.  
Tseng let his hand drop. Perhaps Elena might have been imagining it but she could've sworn that he had almost looked embarrassed. Of course, she couldn't picture Tseng embarrassed. It must've just been her imagination. She looked up again.  
"You don't mind if I have a shower, do you?"  
Tseng shook his head slowly. Elena smiled, gathered up her clothes, and scurried out of the room.  
  
Tseng looked at the doorway that Elena had just left through. He didn't know why he had snatched her hand. It had just seemed natural at the time.  
His eyes strayed to the book on the table. Tseng sat up slowly and stared at it. He reached out to take it but then he snatched his hand back as if burned. Shaking his head slightly, Tseng stood up and got dressed quickly. He left the room, the little book still left alone on the table.  
  
Elena stood by his doorway, her hair still wet from her shower. She was back in her blouse, her blue jacket covering the worst of the rip. Tseng leaned against the doorframe, also fully clothed. Poor Elena didn't seem to know what to say. Of course, he had to admit that he had no idea either. After a bit of an awkward pause Elena settled on a weak, 'see you Monday' before turning to leave.  
  
Tseng closed his door on the now empty hallway. He walked back into his now quiet apartment, and looked around. He seemed to mentally shake something off before heading into his kitchen, searching out that before mentioned coffee.  
He never noticed the small book that was now missing from his living room. 


	3. Salvation: Chapter 3

~ Salvation (3) ~  
  
Author's Notes: Not much to say here beyond the fact that I am still having a great deal of fun writing this. Sorry about taking so long to post though. I should be able to update more quickly from now on. Hopefully. *Crosses fingers*.  
  
Reno sat at his desk, drumming his fingers against it, making a rough tattoo. Rude was sitting across the desk with a newspaper open in front of him.  
"Reno, quit it."  
The drumming paused for a second.  
"What?"  
Rude looked up from his newspaper and glared at Reno.  
"That thing your doing. . . quit it. It's annoying."  
Reno rolled his eyes.  
"Fine."  
Reno leaned back in his chair, resting his feet against his desk. For a while, it was quiet.  
"'Lena's late."  
Rude rolled his eyes and looked up at Reno again.  
"'Lena's *never* late. 'Specially when we have a *meeting*." A small smile pushed at Reno's lips and Rude tried not to sigh.  
"She'll be here."  
". . . Tseng's late too. . ." Reno mused out loud.  
"Reno." Rude said, a note of warning in his voice. Reno sighed expressively.  
"Fine."  
He leaned back in his chair and the quiet resumed. Absently, Reno started tapping his fingers against the arms of his chair. Rude shot him yet another glare before he stood up, tucked his newspaper underneath his arm, and stormed out of the office.  
"What?" Reno asked but his only answer the slam of his door.  
  
Rude walked out into the hallway that separated the four Turks offices. The set up was simple. The only entrance to the level was the elevator located at the end of the hallway. The first office was Reno's which was across from Rude's. A little further down the hallway was Elena's office and further down, on the opposite side, was Tseng's. The second last door in the hallway led to a conference room where the Turks could meet and, on occasion, be briefed personally by the Heidegger or the President. At the very end of the hallway was a plain, unmarked door. The only thing to denote its importance was the key card slot beside it. Only six key cards to it existed in all of Midgar. That door led to one more hallway that contained three more doors, each having their own personal key card slots. Rude wasn't heading in that direction though.  
He was about to walk into his office when he saw Tseng come out of the elevator.  
"Good morning, sir." Rude said.  
Tseng nodded to him.  
"Has everyone arrived, Rude?"  
Rude shook his head.  
"Elena's not here yet."  
Tseng was quiet for a moment.  
"We'll wait."  
Without another word, he headed into his office.  
  
Elena walked into the ground level of Shin-ra's head building.  
"Good morning, Miss Elena," the gate guard greeted her. She acknowledged the guard with a smile before hurrying to the elevator. She was late.  
  
Elena tapped a foot impatiently as the doors shut and then pressed the number for the Turks personal floor.  
"Please enter identification key card," a mechanical voice said.  
Elena swiped her card and was rewarded with the soft hum of the elevator's motion.  
"Finally," she said, sighing slightly.  
Elena watched the tiny light at the top of the elevator flash across its numbers and did her best not to think about what was coming. She didn't want to imagine seeing Tseng this morning or having to face Reno and Rude. She felt like they'd know the instant she walked into the room with them. If they asked her. . . Oh god, best not to think about it. Just watch the light.  
23, 24, 25. . . She wouldn't be able to lie if they asked her; she had never been able to lie to them.  
29, 30, 31. . . They wouldn't ask though. Why should they? They wouldn't know. Tseng wouldn't tell them. For an instant, Elena had the brief image of the boys talking together, sharing stories. That's what guys *did*, wasn't it? She shook her head. No, Tseng wouldn't say anything.  
33, 34, 35. . . Why should he? It wasn't like she was the first girl he'd tumbled. Of course, he hadn't been her first either. Elena snorted slightly. Far from it. God, she didn't want to think about *that* either.  
39, 40, 41. . . Okay, think about something else. They had a meeting today. Very important. She would listen like she always did. She might take notes and maybe ask some questions. It was easy, nothing new. She just had to get off the elevator, walk down the hallway, sit in a chair, listen, and then she could go to her office. There was nothing to be worried about. After all, Rude and Reno wouldn't notice anything. There was nothing to notice! So why did it feel like she had some sort of a giant target painted on her face that said 'Tseng fucked me last night!'? Elena flinched. She *definitely* didn't want to think about that. She couldn't help it though. He'd pretty much made it impossible to forget.  
44, 45, 46. . . Elena shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She wondered if he was satisfied. God knew she had made it easy for him. Why was she doing this to herself? It didn't matter! Still, she had never expected . . . Well, what had she expected?  
48, 49, 50. . . The truth was that she had expected nothing and that was exactly what she had gotten. God, why had she thought it would be different with him?  
52, 53, 54. . . But that was it, wasn't it? It had been with *him* and so for her, it had been different. Not for him though. He had made that painfully obvious last night.  
57, 58, 59. . . It had been in his eyes. They hadn't changed the entire time. Not once. Those gorgeous, beautiful, cold, cold eyes. . . God, she should have known better! What had ever possessed her to think differently? They had all proved it to her, time and time again. . . so why had she thought. . . ? Idiot.  
No, she was going to stop thinking about it. Right now.  
  
The rest of the numbers flew by and Elena didn't notice. A soft ding resounded throughout the elevator once it reached the desired floor. The doors swept open and Elena spotted Reno leaning against the doorframe of his office. She walked over to him.  
"You're late, rookie."  
"Must be your bad influence Reno," Elena said with an easy smile. Reno laughed low in his throat.  
"Sure babe. I'd say it's an improvement though."  
Elena swatted him playfully in the arm but Reno just laughed.  
"Don't take it out on me, sweetheart. Just cuz Tseng's gonna lecture ya. . ."  
Elena's face suddenly blanched and Reno couldn't help but laugh at her expression.  
"God 'Lena! I was just kidding! Come on, babe. Much as I hate these things, we still gotta go to 'em."  
He locked his arm with hers, and propelled her forward. Elena smiled somewhat weakly.  
"At least they're better than paper work."  
Reno laughed again but he never noticed the steadying breath Elena drew in before she pushed open the door of the conference room.  
  
(To be continued.) 


	4. Salvation: Chapter 4

Salvation (4)   
  
Elena sat at her desk, absently playing with a pen between her fingers. The end of the pen showed teeth marks because she had been gnawing on it earlier. It was an old habit that she had never been able to quit completely and it, like twiddling with a pen between her fingers, always seemed to pop up when she was the most frustrated with her work. It never ceased to amaze her the sheer amount of useless paperwork a Turk could acquire. Usually, she could skim through the work easily because she was so used to it by now but she was too distracted today.  
Elena looked down at the papers that covered her desk and tried to force the words to make sense but they kept on dancing around on the page. Too often, the scene of Tseng in the meeting room would swim up to her. Tseng, cool, businesslike Tseng, that hadn't acknowledged her more than a brief nod. And those impossibly dark eyes. . . Not a flicker, not a spark, nothing.  
Elena threw down her pen in frustration. God, she was useless today! She pushed out her chair to try and stretch and her leg brushed against her shoulder bag. Elena's face developed a slightly thoughtful expression as she bent down to pick up the bag. Reaching into it, she pulled out Tseng's tiny leather bound book. Her expression grew slightly puzzled as she looked at it. She honestly didn't know why she had taken it. It had just seemed like the thing to do at the time and now that she had it she burned to know what it said.  
Elena cast one last look at the papers spread over her desk. Well, it wasn't like she was going to get any actual work done today anyways.  
She stood up and headed out of her office and walked towards the elevator. She stopped at Reno's office but didn't have to knock because Reno had his door open.  
"I'm heading down to the Mayor's office. I need to look up some things."  
Reno snorted.  
"Yeah, well, give my love to the Librarian."  
Elena smiled slightly at the old joke and waved before heading down the rest of the corridor. Even though the mayor really was just an over- glorified librarian, she still rather liked the man. He was friendly and helpful if you took the time to ask him. The thing about Mayor Domino was that, because the man had absolutely nothing else to do, he spent a lot of his time reading the file and reference materials that he had clearance to. Of course, his clearance was pretty low but he was a little font of knowledge about the subjects he had access to. He'd definitely be able to help Elena with a little translation problem.  
  
"Elena!" The mayor gave her an enthusiastic smile and Elena returned it with one of her one.  
"Hello Mayor Domino."  
They chatted for a few minutes. The man generally liked this young woman. She was polite, cheerful, outgoing, and, let's face it, one of the few people that would take the time to actually make small talk with him. Oh, he knew that most of the up-and-ups looked down on him because he was more or less a glorified clerk but she, at least, always took the time to be civil to him. Yes, Elena really was just the sweetest thing imaginable. Now, wouldn't it just be such a shame if the little Turk had to kill you?  
"So, what brings you down here Elena, besides the desire to keep an old man company?"  
"Well, actually Mayor, I was wondering if you could help me. You see, I've come across a Wutaian text that I have to translate but I don't know a word of the language!"  
The Mayor nodded thoughtfully.  
"Hmm, yes, Wutaian. That's a tricky one. Did you know that there are actually four main Wutaian dialects and that there can be up to twelve or thirteen different characters for a given word in each? Well, I was reading. . ."  
Elena was happy to let him chatter on, certain that he'd get to the point eventually.  
". . . but, you know, I think I might have just the thing."  
That was when Elena gave him her very best smile.  
"Oh Mayor, I just knew you would."  
  
Elena sat in a little alcove with reference texts spread out around her and the little Wutaian book open in her lap. If anything, the Mayor had under-evaluated the difficulties that Elena would face. The problem was that the book didn't seem to be written in one of the main Wutaian dialects but in a confusing array of all four. As far as she could tell, it seemed to be like a collection them. It would start off in one and then abruptly change into another. Since she had no idea what each symbol meant in Wutaian, she couldn't do the easy Wutaian word to English equivalent translation. First, she had to look up a symbol in one of the volumes, which of course wasn't easy because there was no simple way to skim through the thousands of Wutaian symbols in each book. Even though the texts were organized by subject and by alphabetical order, since Elena had no idea what each symbol actually meant she had to go through the painstaking process of searching every page for the desired one. Once she found the Wutaian word it corresponded to then she could look up its English translation. It took her roughly twenty minutes to do each symbol.  
That didn't mean that she hadn't made much process though. She had translated a full line of the first page of the little book before she had been distracted by something she hadn't noticed when she had first opened the volume. On the top left cover of the front flap of the book there was a tiny inscription in delicate handwriting. When Elena had noticed the two tiny glyphs that made up Tseng's name, the only two Wutaian letters that she knew, she had decided to devote her time to translating the inscription. It had taken her a good two and a half hours but eventually Elena had translated it.  
  
_ Tseng,  
For when you can't find the words.  
Maiya._  
  
Elena had stared at those simple lines for a long, long time. She could almost imagine a slight Wutaian woman smiling when she wrote them. The book had been a present then? From whom? And what had she meant by those words? Even more important, what had she meant to Tseng?  
Elena was embarrassed by the slightly jealous thought and pushed it away. After all, she didn't have the right to be jealous. Besides, whoever the mystery woman was, Tseng had obviously parted from her a long time ago, probably when he had left Wutai. He had never mentioned her, whoever she was. Well, it wasn't like he would have. There was a reason anything to do with Wutai was strictly taboo in the Turks offices.  
Elena leaned back in her chair, holding the book in her hands. She sighed a little, thinking. It was hard being a Turk though not for the reasons a person would expect. It had nothing to do with her job. . . well, not a lot to do with her job. Of course, it was best not to dwell on that. She had no regrets, of course, but it did no good to think about it.  
The thing that was hardest about her job was to be so close to three men, to depend on them, and to know so little about them. She supposed that they didn't really know much about her either. Hadn't even Tseng been surprised when Elena had told him about the Inn?  
What do you do when you work with people, trust them with your life, and yet couldn't honestly say their age? How can you call someone your friend if it seems all you have between you are secrets?  
Of course, they didn't really see it that way. Well, not all of the time. Elena didn't usually think about it that much. It was really just the little Wutaian book, this embodiment of secrecy, which made her think of it now.  
Thinking of it, Elena couldn't help but remember that night at the bar, back when she had first come to the Turks, when Reno had tried to explain it to her in his own way. To this day, Elena couldn't remember what had started the conversation. Rude had made some off-handed remark and Reno, being Reno, had suddenly turned cryptic with that glimmer in his eye. . .  
  
----  
  
"No secrets. . ." Reno said, looking pointedly at Rude.  
". . . No lies," the other finished.  
Reno laughed suddenly and downed his shot.  
"Damn straight."  
Elena looked around the table, confused.  
"I don't get it."  
Reno laughed quietly and so did Rude. Elena looked to Tseng.  
"What is it?"  
Reno grinned at Tseng mischievously  
"Well, should we tell her?"  
Tseng shrugged  
"I told you."  
"Yeah. . . but you practically made me beg Tseng."  
Tseng chuckled softly and shook his head a little, as if sharing a joke. It was wearing thin on Elena.  
"Just tell me guys!"  
Reno's grin grew wider  
"What's it worth to you, rookie?"  
His eyes seemed to sparkle a little more and Elena's widened when she realized what he was suggesting. She swatted him in the arm.  
"Reno!"  
Reno laughed again. When he was done, Rude nudged him in the arm and nodded, once. Reno looked over at Tseng who also gave him the most minute of nods. Reno looked back to Elena again, his eyes suddenly serious, and Elena had to suppress a shiver.  
"It's what we keep from each other," he said, his voice oddly quiet.  
"What?"  
"Between Turks. . . between us, there are no secrets and no lies. Ever."  
  
----  
  
Of course, it wasn't really a lie if nobody asked you. If you pretended to ignore a secret, then it wasn't really there, now was it? It was why nobody talked about Wutai, why nobody ever looked too long at Reno's scars. Simply put, they didn't really want to talk about it and you didn't really want to know. It was just better not to look, not to ask. Then, they could pretend like there weren't secrets at all and everything was okay. And she and Rude, what of them? Their secrets were more subdued but they were there all the same. Rude with his quiet nature, his dependable strength. . . and the red, red, blood against his soft black skin. And Elena. . . well, what was a pretty, sweet blonde girl doing in the Turks anyway?  
  
Elena sighed again and looked back at the papers on the table in front of her. Pushing those depressing thoughts out of her head, she tried to get back to work.  
  
Elena started when she heard a knock at the door. She blinked her eyes back into to focus to look at the Mayor as he slid in. He had his jacket on and a little briefcase in his hands.  
"Well, I'm heading out now Elena."  
"Oh," she said surprised. "What time is it Mayor?"  
He smiled a little.  
"Oh, around 5:30 I'm guessing."  
Her eyes widened.  
"5:30?"  
"Time does fly, doesn't it?"  
"I suppose it does."  
The Mayor laughed a little.  
"Well, good night Elena."  
"Good night Mayor."  
As he was about to leave the room, Elena called out to him again.  
"Oh, Mayor! I'll be taking these home tonight."  
She gestured to a few of the volumes on the desk. He didn't have to power to stop her of course because Elena outranked him but she just wanted to be polite.  
"Of course Elena. Good night."  
"Good night." When the door slid shut, Elena felt an empty rumble in her tummy. Putting a hand on her stomach she looked at the papers at the desk.  
Okay, she thought. One quick stop to the cafeteria and then back to work.  
She left the room in its disorder. It wasn't like anyone else would be coming down there anyways.  
  
Some time later, Elena looked up with some satisfaction at the page she had translated fully. The more she worked at it, she easier the work became because she was starting to recognize some of the Wutaian symbols. She stretched her arms a little and winced at the pain that shot up her back, an unwanted result of the cramped position she had held. She yawned and decided it was about time to go home. Elena wasn't quite she what time it was but she guessed it was around nine o'clock. She gathered up her books but then realized that she had left her computer logged on upstairs. Being a little compulsive about that sort of thing, she decided to go back up to turn it off.  
  
Elena turned away from her workstation, satisfied. She picked up her shoulder bag and walked away from her desk. As she went through her doorway, she bumped right into Tseng who was walking in. Being much smaller than him, she bounced right off him.  
Elena grunted as she hit the ground, the contents of her shoulder bag spilling. Pens, pencil, eyeliner and other forms of makeup, everything clattered to the floor. Tseng immediately bent down to help her and Elena was thankful that her books had remained hidden inside the bag. Suddenly embarrassed, Elena flushed deep red and started to gather up her things.  
"Sorry Tseng," she stammered. "I didn't see you."  
Tseng handed her her compact.  
"I saw a light on. I didn't know you were still in the building."  
She hadn't imagined it was possible but she flushed an even deeper red.  
"Well, I was, um, I was, down in the um, well, see, I needed some books, um, so, I, I was down on the Mayor's level!" She finished hurriedly, her cheeks burning even more fiercely. She frantically tried to gather her things.  
"You, you really don't have to help. I'm um fine, really."  
Tseng handed her a pen, ignoring her last little line. When she took it, she brushed his fingertips, and it felt like an electric shock shot up her arm. She tried to snatch her hand away but Tseng was too fast. He took her hand in his, his fingers curled around hers.  
Elena couldn't help but look up at him then. She still thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Those deep, dark eyes held her, captivated her, and she felt herself being drawn into them.  
Tseng bent forward and kissed her, deeply. It was a strong kiss, despite their crouched position. Elena bent forward to lean into the kiss more, and they nearly toppled over. She almost wished they would lie down right there, on the floor of her office.  
When they broke apart, they were both panting, but Tseng's face stayed close to hers. He bent forward to whisper in her ear.  
"Come home with me," he said quietly. Elena swallowed harshly and felt suddenly torn. There was really only one answer that she could give though.  
  
Elena sat in the passenger seat of Tseng's car, her shoulder bag on her lap. She usually took the train to work but Tseng always drove. She couldn't remember who had told her that, Rude or Reno. Her eyes darted over to Tseng who was watching the road in front of him. Feeling like she had committed some sort of a crime, Elena lowered her eyes and looked only at the little bag in her hands. Her knuckles whitened.  
  
He was on her almost as soon as they entered the apartment. Just like before, they stumbled towards the bedroom. Just like before, Elena couldn't help but cry out her pleasure as he found his way into her over, and over, and over again.  
  
Tseng was sleeping on his stomach, on of his arms carelessly thrown across Elena's form. She looked at him for she didn't know how long before slowly, carefully, climbing out of his bed. The clock on his nightstand was reading 1:34 in bold red letters. As quietly as she could, Elena dressed herself and left the apartment. Perhaps another woman might have been nervous at walking alone so late at night but not Elena. The slight weight of her pistol was a comforting presence as she began her walk home.  
  
Elena unlocked her door and walked into her apartment, head down. Her little tabby cat Tom came up to her and begged for attention. She absently ran a hand over his back before heading off into her room.  
  
Elena crawled into her bed and curled up into a little ball. Then, she finally let herself cry.


	5. Salvation: Chapter 5

Salvation (5) 

When Elena woke up the next morning, her eyes felt puffy and her mouth tasted like cotton batting. Her head was pounding too. She had cried herself to sleep last night and she felt it in every inch of her cramped body.

Elena rolled over when she felt two familiar paws push against her thigh. When she looked over at her cat, he meowed inquisitively.

"Good morning to you too."

She ran an absent hand across Tom's back and he automatically showed his appreciation by starting a loud purr.

Elena sat up in bed and looked around her. Now, with the sunlight shining through her window and Tom purring against her hand, it was easy to forget the stark depression she had felt the night before. When she thought about going into work though, her stomach sank. Elena picked up her cat and he immediately rubbed his head against her chin, purring.

"Oh, Tom, what am I going to do?"

He meowed again before continuing to purr. Elena looked over at the phone on her nightstand.

"I can't hide forever Tom," she said to her cat. He just purred on. Elena chuckled a little.

"You know you have no morals, right?" Tom rubbed his head against her chin again.

"All right, you big suck." She dropped Tom down on the bed and reached over to the phone. She shot him another glance.

"You are such a bad influence."

When Elena reached the phone though, she paused. Normally she would call Tseng but. . . Suddenly finding a solution, she dialed Reno's office number. There was no way he was going to be in this early.  
  
---

Reno played back the message on his answering machine again.

"Hi Reno, it's Elena. Look, I'm not going to be coming in today. I tried calling Tseng but his line was busy. Could you tell him for me please? Thanks. Bye."

Reno leaned back in his chair and frowned.

---

Elena lay in bed for a while, just luxuriating in the feel of the sheets and the warmth of her bed. Eventually, she did manage to get up, shower, and make herself some toast for breakfast. After she ate, she sort of felt at a loss for what to do until she noticed her black shoulder bag that she had hung over the back of a chair the night before. Well, why not?  
  
---

"Elena's not coming in today."

Tseng looked up from the file he was working on.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She called me earlier. 'Said your line was busy."

"All right."

Reno waited a fraction of a second longer before leaving, another frown darkening his features.  
  
---

Elena sat at her kitchen table wearing a pair of comfy sweat pants and a loose cotton shirt. She squinted at the open book in front of her. Her table had become a terrible mess of scarp papers, additional volumes, and writing utensils. She had decided that Tseng's book was some sort of collection of Wutaian sayings and prayers. So far, she had managed to translate about five pages of the book. Not for the first time, Elena wondered why this Maiya woman had given it to him and why he had kept it all of these years. Mostly though, she just tried to focus on the task at hand. The line that she was working on was particularly troublesome. She hadn't been able to identify the character that she was looking up in the main index she used. When she finally found the word in a list of more obscure terms, she smiled in satisfaction before committing it onto paper.

"Gods above, sanctify this earth. . . land? Home? No, wait. . ."

At her feet, Tom wiggled to and fro demanding attention but was sadly ignored.  
  
---

Reno looked up at the clock on his wall. 4:30. God it had been a slow day. Rude was out on assignment and Tseng had left around midday because he had had a meeting with the President. With Elena gone, this had unfortunately left Reno alone with a huge pile of paperwork and there was nothing Reno hated more than paperwork. His lasting vendetta against Cloud and his cronies after Sector Seven had less to do with the injuries he had received so much as the twelve-page report he had had to fill out afterwards.

Reno had acquired somewhat of a talent for avoiding paperwork and so the piles on his desk were ever growing. Elena liked to call his office 'the land where reports go to die' but Reno didn't really find it that funny. Eventually, Tseng would get on his case about the last two or three or twelve reports that he had neglected to fill out and then in one brief and dazzling moment of productivity the mountainous stacks of paper would disappear. Until the next time.

Now, Reno sat at his desk looking at the gargantuan stacks of paper with some dismay. Perhaps some up-and-coming Shin-ra manager would have looked upon the situation with a certain amount of joy because being alone at the office was the very best time to catch up on old work. Reno however was under the impression that anyone who ever wanted to 'manage' anything was obviously deranged and so he had spent the better part of his day avoiding his work. He had taken an extended extended lunch, had spent a good hour chatting with Sally from Accounting, and, when all else had failed, had spent two hours testing out the new assortment of fire base materia that the Turks had received. Of course, the tricky thing with fire spells is that you need something to burn. Reno had never heard a paper's scream but he imagined that it was a very satisfying sound.

Of course, Reno hadn't wanted to exhaust himself too much by casting fire after fire spell and so, though the papers had suffered many casualties, they had essentially won the war.

Reno looked at the clock again. 4:32. He looked at the papers littering his desk, shuddered, and then look back at the clock again. Still 4:32.

Ah, what the Hell. Close enough. Besides, he knew a sick girl who was in desperate need of cheering up. As a general rule, Reno wasn't really big on charity but as a Turk he had learnt that rules were something that applied to other people.

Reno cast the papers a triumphant look and then headed out of his door.  
  
---

Elena squinted at her reference books trying to locate another elusive character. When she found it, she paused.

"It means. . . family?"  
  
---

Reno stood in line at the grocery store counter, his dark sunglasses covering his eyes. The elderly cashier looked at him with some apprehension but Reno shrugged it off. He placed his gil on the counter and the man looked at him sideways. Here came the big question.

"Will you need a bag for that, sir?"

Reno laughed low in his throat.

"For one lousy can?"

The older man looked a little embarrassed and Reno laughed harder.

"'Course pops. The biggest one you have."  
  
---

Elena sat at her table not moving. She was staring blankly at Tseng's book open in front of her. Tom was concerned at the strange behaviour of his mistress and so was meowing inquisitively but she ignored him completely. Slowly, she read the words that she had just translated over again.

_Gods grant me the strength to watch over my family. Let me be the sword that protects them, the shield that defends them. May they never know fear, nor doubt, nor pain._

_Father's prayer_

Elena ran her fingers over those soft, caring words and felt her eyes water.

_No, Daddy! Daddy don't!_

She snapped the book shut with a sudden force and turned her face away from it, blinking rapidly.

Tom, sensing her distress, was immediately at her side, meowing softly. Elena laughed weakly at the animal and rubbed a hand across his back.

"I'm okay Tom, I'm okay." She paused and swallowed. "It was. . . it was a long time ago."  
  
---

Reno stood outside Elena's apartment, a huge oversized brown paper bag in hand. He knocked on her door self-importantly.  
  
---

Elena was suddenly startled out of her reverie by the knock at her door. Eyes still burning, she considered ignoring the intruder until she heard a familiar, if somewhat muffled voice call her name. Elena looked around in distress at the papers that littered her table and ran a hand through her hair. She got up, wiped once at her eyes, and checked her face in a mirror in her living room. Satisfied that her eyes weren't red and that she looked at least moderately presentable, she answered the door.

"Reno! My God, what are you doing here?"

Reno smirked and flipped his sunglasses onto his wild red hair.

"Thought you could use some company babe. 'Sides, I brought you a present."

He pulled out a can of chicken soup from his grocery bag and presented it with an elaborate bow. Elena laughed out loud.

"Soup! That's great. Nobody's ever bought me soup before."

Reno grinned widely.

"That's what I'm here for sweetheart."

Elena stepped away from the door and let the other Turk in. Tom automatically rushed up to meet the new visitor. Reno eyed the cat askance.

"Didn't know you had a cat," he said as the animal entwined itself around his legs, purring.

"Yeah, his name is Tom. Why? You're not allergic, are you?"

"Nah, just never really liked cats much."

Elena laughed again.

"Funny."

"What?"

"Oh, it's just that I always kinda pictured you sort of, you know, cat-like."

Reno gave her a surprised look.

"Cat-like?"

"Yeah, you know, all slinky and stuff. I could almost picture you with the ears."

Reno's eyes widened in shock and Elena laughed even harder.

"Don't take it so personal Reno! Come in. Do you want something to drink?"

Elena led the redhead into her kitchen and busied herself looking around in the fridge for something for Reno.

"You know," she said over her shoulder. "Traditionally, when people bring sick people soup, they do the cooking." Elena trailed off hopefully but Reno didn't answer. Surprised, she looked over at her guest and her eyes widened when she saw him looking down at the assorted books on her kitchen table. She had completely forgotten!

Reno picked up one of her pages of notes and looked over at Elena questioningly.

"Wutaian translations?"

Elena stood slowly and swallowed, her face automatically going neutral. Reno's eyes flattened at her reaction. For a moment, they were both quiet until Elena exhaled slowly.

"Are you asking?"

Reno looked down at the page in his hand and was thoughtful for a moment.

"No, I suppose I'm not. . ." Reno's expression suddenly went from thoughtful to mischievous in an instant.

"Why would I wanna know about some books 'nyways? Now a beer, that'd be interesting."

Elena nodded slowly and then smiled weakly.

"Sure."

She cleared off the table with Reno pointedly observing a wall in the opposite direction. Then, she handed him a beer and smiled as a little as he automatically pulled out a chair, tossed off his jacket, and popped the tab. Elena stood beside him, cradling the can of chicken soup in her hands expectantly. Reno looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow.

"Don't push your luck rookie."

Elena laughed dryly.

"Wouldn't dream of it Reno."  
  
---

Elena passed Reno a bowl of hot soup before sitting down at the table herself. Tom decided to amuse himself with the giant paper bag that Reno had so thoughtfully provided him. Reno watched the cat stalk, pounce, and then kill the paper bag and rolled his eyes.

"Cats," he said derisively.

Elena looked at Reno through her eyelashes, trying to hide a smile and failing miserably. When Reno caught her look, he glared at her.

"I am not a cat 'Lena."

Elena smothered her laugh and took up a spoonful of soup. Still grinning, under her breath she said,

"Meow."  
  
---

They chatted together for an hour or two before Reno decided he had been sociable enough for the day. He gathered up his jacket and cast a semi-amused look back at Tom before heading to the door. There, Elena thanked him for the soup, wished him a good night, and then gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. Reno laughed at that.

"Careful rookie. You don't want to be giving me any ideas."

"God forbid Reno. Thanks again."

"No problem babe."

He headed out into the hall and Elena closed her door after him. Reno took a few steps away from her door before turning slightly to look back, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then, he shook it off, and walked away, placing his sunglasses back over his eyes.  
  
---

Elena picked up Tseng's book from the living room where she had placed it. She walked back towards her kitchen but stopped at the entrance, weighting the book in her hand. Her eyes turned back to the door where Reno had left and her face developed a quiet, thoughtful expression. Then, she looked back down at the book in her hands and her expression hardened. She walked back into the kitchen purposefully; she had work to do.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Responses**: Yes, it's time I finally got around to doing these. A great big thank you to you guys who reviewed. At least somebody is reading this.

_Heather Cat_: Thanks so much for your review! This chapter is definitely dedicated to you. Heh. Heather Cat, numerous cat references. It's funny. Thanks for the pre-reading and editing. I'm glad that you like Elena's characterization. I'll try to keep on posting and keep on updating, if only in fear of your pokage. smiles.

_Dazma_: You have no idea how happy I was when I got your review. I was so afraid that nobody was reading this. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying this.

_Hoheehum_: I suppose that this must have been a teeny bit of a shock after Lifelines. Sorry about that. Thanks for the review though!

_Re-o-ko_: Thanks for the review Re-o-ko. Heh, yes, the fic definitely deserves its rating. Don't ask me why the bloody thing had to open with such as scene; it just did. Heh heh. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.


	6. Salvation: Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Well, this chapter turned out to be a little bit different than what I had expected. I didn't expect the flashback to be so detailed but it is. It's partly the reason why I am so late posting. I was so upset with it after its first draft that I had to re-write the entire bloody thing. Here it is though! Thanks for your patience.  
Incidentally, I apologize if the proverbs I wrote seem a little off. Eastern philosophy isn't exactly my strongest point. As always, if I offend I apologize because it was not my intention.  
  
~Salvation (6)~  
  
When Elena woke up the next morning, it was to a mild sense of déjà- vu. Sunshine was pouring in through her light beige blinds and Tom had his paws on her leg. It felt very strange, almost as if yesterday hadn't happened at all. She remembered it very clearly though: calling Reno, working on the book, that quotation- no, best not to think about that- and Reno coming over. He had brought her soup. It had been . . . very thoughtful. She'd almost say 'un-Reno-like' but that wasn't entirely true. Elena could remember a few other times when Reno's seemingly unimagined 'good guy' complex had shone out for a moment or two. She liked to tease him about it sometimes just to hear him say 'Shut up 'Lena' with that funny little mischievous smile of his. Those eyes could sparkle and laugh like you wouldn't believe when they wanted to.  
Elena sat up in bed and winced at little at the tinge in her shoulders. Now that was reminiscent too, wasn't it? Except last time she had awoken uncomfortable because. . . God, why did she even bother to think about things like that? Her shoulders were hurting *now* because she had spent too much time bent over Tseng's book yesterday. That was it.  
Funny. Yesterday after Reno had left, Elena had had a hard time concentrating on the book in hand. She hadn't managed to get much more translated.  
For all the splendour of her day off, Elena still hadn't accomplished much. She was still awake, sore, and unwilling to go into work. She cringed a little again. That's what all this pointless musing was about, wasn't it? It didn't matter that she still had ink stains on her fingers, or that her shoulders were sore, or that Reno had smiled and brought her soup. What mattered was that she still had a problem and hiding away for a day hadn't made it any better. What the Hell was she supposed to do now? She couldn't just keep on calling in sick despite how very tempting that sounded. So, what? Quit? Heh, that was laughable. A person didn't 'quit' being a Turk. Obviously, she had to go back to work. Obviously. But. . .  
Elena leaned over to her beside table and picked up Tseng's book in an attempt to distract herself from her thoughts. She opened it to a random page and scrolled down. Elena had a pretty good memory, a trait that had only been reinforced by her Turks training. God, how many times had she and Tseng walked out of a room, only for him to ask her how many men there had been at the fourth table in the back or where had the most convenient exit been placed or how many people had looked like they were carrying weapons or. . . It was something she did almost immediately now. There were four men at that table, the back right door was the best way out, three men looked dangerous etc. It had been even worse when he had been training her to remember documents. Some days, he had presented her with a pile of ten or fifteen papers. Imagine trying to remember their titles, dates, and important phrases, after only having a minute (if that) to scan them.  
The important thing though was that Elena now had a very good memory. She was able to repeat things verbatim usually just after reading them once. Looking at these Wutaian phrases, Elena was able to automatically associate them with their English translations. She was certainly less adept than a native but she was slowly learning to 'read' Wutaian. Tseng might've even been proud of her, Elena thought wryly, if she hadn't taught herself using his stolen property.  
She scanned the pages she had translated. There were so many little things in it. Some were easy to understand, straightforward tidbits about Wutaian culture. Others were prayers to the Wutaian gods. Elena had never really looked up any information about the pantheon of Wutaian beliefs and so some of the more specific references left her a little confused. Other things were proverbs that sounded simple at first glance but seemed to have a deeper meaning every time she returned to them. Those were her favourites. They had this simple, easily phrased style that contrasted their eloquence so wonderfully. Her eyes devoured the pages.  
*Live every moment as if it is your last. Greet life with the courage you would show at your death.*  
*Strength without integrity is savagery.*  
*The path I took brought me to today. The path I will choose will lead me to tomorrow.*  
Elena paused when she read that one. It reminded her of something that Tseng had told her a long time ago. It had been after her first job. She still remembered every gruesome detail of that one. It had supposed to be a simple surveillance mission but everything had gone wrong. She and Rude had ended up fighting for their lives just to make it out. It had been the first time she had ever killed a man.  
  
***  
  
Elena looked down at the group of men clustered beneath her and Rude's hiding spot and her mouth twisted in disgust. There were three men in smart business suits talking quietly together with a ring of armed guards surrounding them. Elena looked down with avid interest at the three men in the centre of the ring. They were some of Midgar's middle-class drug lords, large enough to warrant Shin-ra's notice but not powerful enough to pose a threat to the company. Usually, the upper execs at Shin-ra couldn't care less about what the drug lords did in the slums so long as they paid their respects to the proper authorities but the man that Rude and Elena had been assigned to watch seemed to be skimping lately. Shin-ra had been tipped off about this meeting between the three drug lords and so the Turks had been dispatched to gather information on the whos and whats of the deal. Simple.  
Elena pulled out her binoculars and wished that she knew how to read lips the way Rude could. Tseng hadn't taught her that yet. In a way she was glad she didn't posses that particular talent though. Dealers made her skin crawl.  
Suddenly, Elena turned to scan the area behind her.  
"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Rude.  
"There's nothing. Quiet," he hissed back. Elena looked away, chagrined. He was probably right; she was just being jumpy. This part of Sector Two was renowned for its high number of monster sightings though and it made her nervous. There were stories about whole groups of people disappearing overnight. The place was full of abandoned buildings with plenty of tempting dark corners. Normally this would've been considered prime real estate if it hadn't been for the squats other inhabitants. She shivered and Rude gave her a harsh look, almost as if to say 'don't screw up rookie'. Her expression hardened and she nodded once before turning back to the group of men below them.  
She and Rude were hiding in an old building a good twenty-five feet away from the dealers and their armed thugs. They were far enough away to maintain secrecy but close enough for them to watch the transaction. Suddenly, Elena swivelled around again. She could've sworn. . .  
"There's something there Rude," she whispered, her eyes squinting against the darkness. Rude didn't turn around. Was that a glint in the shadows? Elena's eyes widened.  
"Rude!" she cried but her warning came too late. Rude went sprawling as the creature leapt onto him. Elena recognized it instantly: one of the poisonous insect-like monsters that haunted the slums.  
"Rude!" she cried again, watching the older man struggle with the monster. It had him pinned against the ground, its mandibles clacking hungrily above him. He cried out as one of the creature's claws stabbed him in his side.  
Everything seemed to slow down for Elena at that moment. There was Rude, there was the monster, and then suddenly her gun was in her hands. Her shot rang out, hard and pure, and the creature recoiled from the attack. It swivelled its twisted form to face her but then three more shots went off and it collapsed.  
Time caught up to her and Elena ran over to Rude. He winced when she helped him sit up.  
They both looked over to the men that they had been watching. All ready all the armed guards that had been surrounding them were dispersing, looking for the source of the shots.  
"We have to go. Now." Rude said between gritted teeth.  
"All right. Let's go."  
  
Elena stood crouched behind a half-decayed wall, cursing silently. The sounds of bullets were ringing loudly in her ears. They had almost made it out unnoticed. Almost.  
She looked over at Rude who was clutching his wounded side.  
"What do we do now?" she asked, trying to be heard over endless cacophony of artillery. Rude winced and looked at their surroundings, trying to blink away the blurriness in his vision. They were in a field of rubble strewn with half destroyed walls, rows of twisted metal, and dilapidated cars. It was a good place to fight if you were fast and smart. Unfortunately, he was poisoned and Elena was an untried rookie.  
"You go left. I go right. Two each." He exhaled heavily. "Then, we go."  
Elena nodded but he could still see the fear in her eyes.  
"Okay."  
Both Turks leapt off in different directions, dodging bullets as they went, firing, firing. . .  
  
There is a door in the hallway of the Turks offices with a single key card. Beyond that door lie three more doors. One of these doors leads to a room the Turks call Detox. When a mission goes wrong, that's where Turks go.  
It was where Rude had been wheeled into to after he and Elena had been brought back to headquarters by helicopter. Tseng had met them at the helicopter pad with two nervous looking doctors. Then, without a word, Rude had been strapped to a stretcher and then wheeled down into Detox. That had been forty minutes ago.  
Amazing how much a room could change in forty minutes. Elena had never liked Detox because it reminded her too much of a hospital. The room was painted in a sickening not-quite-white and was lined with cool sterile counters. Two surgical beds took up most of the space in the room. She stood beside one and tried to imagine what kind of a scene it could have been when Rude had been brought in. Chaotic perhaps? Had the doctors been frantically passing instruments between each other like frightened insects while Tseng had coolly looked on? Or had they been pragmatism made flesh as they had discussed Rude's various wounds and the poisons leaking into his veins? Probably the later considering the short time that it had required them to 'fix' their broken Turk. After forty gruelling minutes of antidote injections, rushed stitching, and massive use of curative magic, Rude had been pronounced fit. Somewhere in all of that, someone had managed to restore Detox to its original state. It was once again nauseatingly sterile, all the bloodied bandages and utensils having been properly disposed of. The efficiency of the Shin-ra staff both impressed and sickened Elena.  
In the end, she only knew one joy in all of this: the room's most essential element was now free for her use. Stored away in the back of the room was a beautifully clean and complete shower.  
Detox got its name because there a Turk could literally be 'detoxified'. Wounds were healed and cleaned. Bloody uniforms were destroyed in special containers that would burn any contents placed inside them. Then, after everything, all that was left to do was wash the blood off your hands. Or face. Or body.  
In Elena's case, it seemed to be everywhere. Rude's blood. Her blood. Their blood. Everywhere. Her uniform had been splattered with in. Some of it coated her hair. She had never expected. . . Elena closed her eyes against the flood of images that threatened to overwhelm her.  
  
/*She crept up behind the man. He was looking over at where Rude had just dived and never expected the bullet that sunk into his brain from behind. It was a messy way to die.  
Another man –why were there always more of them?- tackled her, sending her flying against the ground. All the air rushed out of her lungs as the man was suddenly on top of her. Her instincts took over and she kicked upwards. The man's hands reached for her throat but hers were faster. The shot rang out like a fist in the gut.  
One more coming up from behind her. She spun around and the heel of her foot connected with the man's chest. He crumbled in a heap, clutching broken ribs. Frantically, he tried to grab the gun that had flung free of his hands but he was too slow. Elena's foot crushed down on his fingers, breaking bone and pinning them to the ground. Her own shot rang hollow as he looked up at her. He had had such a surprised expression as the bullet ran through his heart.*/  
  
Shaking hands searched for the shower's valve and steam rose up from the sudden downpour of hot water. Elena cranked the heat up to maximum and scrubbed frantically. At her feet, red water drained away.  
  
Tseng had had Rude taken back to his apartment by one of the private drivers they had at Shin-ra. His injuries hadn't been overly grievous but he had been feeling very drained from the combined effect of the poison and materia healing. Now, all that was left for Tseng to do was to check on Elena. Before he had left, Rude had made sure to tell Tseng of Elena's role in their escape. In the end, Elena had had to practically carry Rude to their fall-out shelter because he had been so weakened by the paralysing effect of the monster's poison. At the shelter, she had radioed for help and organized Rude's quick trip to Detox. Tseng had been impressed.  
He had been waiting for her in his office for a good twenty minutes before he had decided to go down to check on her. He disliked leaving his Turks alone for too long after their first mission.  
When Tseng entered Detox, he was greeted with a cloud of hot steam.  
"Elena?" he asked, unanswered. He could hear the sound of dripping water still. His pulse quickened a little as he tried to perceive her in the think mist.  
"Elena?"  
For a brief moment, he was afraid of what he might find. It was always possible. Not everyone could handle the pressure. Maybe she hadn't been ready. Maybe. . .  
"Elena?" he asked a third time and this time a voice piped up behind him.  
"I'm right here Tseng."  
Tseng couldn't help but feel relieved. He could see her now, sitting on a surgical bed, bare legs showing under the towel that she had wrapped around herself. Elena tried to smile at him and failed miserably. Tseng sighed and walked over to her. He took a seat on the bed beside her. Looking over at her, he was shocked to see how red her skin was. His fingertips brushed against the skin of her bare shoulders when he noticed that the skin there was peeling slightly there.  
"Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.  
She shook her head.  
"No. I just. . . I just couldn't get clean, you know?"  
Tseng nodded sagely. They were quiet for a moment.  
"Is it always like this?" Elena asked sadly.  
Tseng shook his head.  
"It's always worse the first time."  
"Does it ever get better?"  
How to explain to her that it didn't get better but that you felt it less and less? Instead, he just shrugged.  
"Everyone is different."  
She seemed to take that in.  
"What did you do? Afterwards I mean."  
"My first mission?"  
She nodded.  
He had stood outside the door of the temple, looking at the people clustered inside. Wutaian temples were rare enough in the east but you could always find one or two. He had stood there for he didn't know how long until an old man had walked past him and asked if he was going in. He had turned around and left then.  
"It was a long time ago," Tseng said simply. Elena nodded, taking it to mean that he didn't remember.  
"Do you. . . do you ever regret it?"  
That was a complicated question.  
"There is only one way to stop being a Turk," came the answer, cold. Elena was quiet for a moment.  
"Still. Do you?"  
Tseng sighed.  
"My life is a product of the choices I have made. Regret has no meaning."  
"Do you really believe that?"  
"It's not a question of belief."  
He stood then and offered her his hand to help her off the seat. She took it cautiously and smiled slightly at him.  
"Thank you Tseng."  
"You're welcome Elena."  
  
***  
  
Elena set the book back down on her beside table and got out of bed, much to Tom's distress. She smiled a little and walked over to her closet, revealing the trim, pressed blue suit hidden inside it. Sometimes what you believe in has little to do with faith and everything to do with survival. Elena took out her suit and ran her hands against the crisp blue fabric, an unreadable expression on her face. Then, she headed to her bathroom to get ready. She had to hurry if she didn't want to be late today.  
  
~~~  
  
Responses: Thanks again to everyone who has dropped me a review. Look! I have ten now! *dances*. All of your comments and criticism are well- appreciated guys and I thank you.  
  
Jess Angel: Thanks a lot for the reviews. Do you realize that you single- handedly doubled my review count? That's pretty cool. *blush* Yeah, the opening scene was surprisingly descriptive but I'm glad you thought that it was still tasteful. I hope that you appreciated the fact that in this chapter I wrote more about 'the book'. Oh, how annoying that book can be at times. I'm also glad that you like what I'm doing with Elena's character. Every time I sit down to write, I realize that I'm walking a fine line between her being 'different' and her being ooc. It is complicated but, so far, I'm relatively satisfied. I am *so* glad that you reviewed this though. Thank you. *bows*  
  
Ktrenal: Thanks a lot for your review Ktrenal. I'm glad that you like what I've done with Elena's character. I admit that I had to tinker with her stereotypes a little bit because the stereotypical Elena *really* wouldn't have fit in this story. I'm sorry if you find the chapter a little short. I must confess that I'm not one of those ppl who pay too much attention to chapter length. Usually, I have an idea running in my head and once it reaches its end, I end the chapter. Long or short, it doesn't really affect my decision. Thank you for your poking. I'll try to update somewhat regularly though God knows I won't be able to accomplish what you have with Ouroboros. Great story, that one is. 


	7. Salvation: Chapter 7

Author's Notes: Holy God, chapter 7. Somehow, this one feels so significant to me. It's probably because I've pretty much reached the point of no return in my story, or at least it seems that way to me. I've reached the point where things aren't planned out quite so linearly in my head and it's a crazy wonderful, exhilarating kind of feeling. Thanks to everyone who's reading this. I hope you've been enjoying so for. I think that things are just about to get 'interesting'.  
  
~Salvation (7)~  
  
Someone had once told Elena that life was like a constantly changing story. At the time, she had thought that it was pretty stupid idea. If all of her life was a story, who was the sick fuck who was writing it? Once upon a time . . . yeah, right.  
To say the least, she had lost her faith in fairytales a long time ago. It wasn't precisely any one person's fault, really. She could think of a thousand and one wonderful, nameless, wretched people who had contributed to that specific aspect of her moral make-up. Life wasn't a fairytale. There were no happy endings.  
She understood how life could be seen as a story though. It was like the most evolved and complicated of tales, she supposed, because it branched off in so many ways. Her story, Tseng's, Reno and Rude's, they all seemed to blur together. She sometimes wondered what happened in their own novels when they walked away from the office at night. Funny to think that in their stories she was just another blip on their radars as they moved on in their own personal narratives.  
Take Reno's, for example. How much did it matter to him that he had walked over to Elena's to cheer her up? Was it just some random footnote one of his page, or did it make up a full chapter?  
The funniest thing about all these intertwined novels though was that Elena sometimes felt like she was reading from somewhere in the middle. Sometimes, she had the idea that there were pages and pages of unread words waiting for her, somewhere. She wondered where they all started; Reno's, Tseng's, hers. Where was the point that they all began?  
If she were to think about it - she usually didn't, for very obvious reasons, but if she *were* to think about it - Elena would probably decide that her story started when her mother died. Before then, she really only had glimpses and half-forgotten memories. They were like blurry snap-shots in her mind. Sometimes, Elena half-suspected that they were all the deluded imaginings of one lost little girl but some nights they seemed real enough. Of her mother, Elena had no clear picture beyond the vague impression of a kind smile and a loving face. She had seen a photo of her mother once, ages ago. She had looked a little bit like Elena. Elena couldn't remember her though and so the only image that she had in her mind was really of that sweet smile. The photo meant nothing compared to that.  
Her story didn't start with that smile though; it started at her mother's death. In some ways, that should've been enough to warn her about her story's future. Nothing with such an opening could have possibly been the fairytale dream that so many little girls believe their lives to be. There had never been a knight in shining armour for Elena and she was no princess. Princesses don't stand in doorways wearing too much make-up hoping without hope that maybe the next john won't be such an ass-hole and that they won't get too busted up this time.  
All in all, it wasn't a very happy story. Nobody would ever want to read it.  
Why should they want to though? Sometimes, the hardest thing for Elena to understand about these individual stories was how easy it was to get caught up in them. It was incredible. Everybody was always wrapped up in his or her own little novels. Did they ever take the time to consider somebody else's? Sometimes, her story seemed so very pressing at times. How often had she been too caught up in her own problems to notice somebody else's? In a way, she supposed that was the nature of human cruelty. Well, that was a flawed example because humans weren't necessarily cruel. Oh, she had met some awful, awful people in her life. Too many, really. The worst ones were always the ones that were supposed to be good. That had been an easy lesson to learn for Elena: nobody is good just because they should be. The police weren't always there to protect you. Priests weren't always high and holy. Parents weren't always kind to their children.  
No, in so many ways what made people cruel was their own unique sort of blind indifference. She knew that most people were probably relatively good, simple people but everyone was always so obsessed with their own stories that they just didn't have time to notice someone else's. It was a harsh reality but it wasn't something that people did intentionally. When you are starring full-face into the sun, sometimes it hard to see that little dot on the edge of the horizon.  
Too many stories ended inexplicably short in the world. How many of them could've ended differently had those people had just one more chance? Elena wasn't in the habit of handing out pity though that didn't mean that she was as hard as she should be. She supposed that some people would argue that everything had a meaning, that it was all part of some grand Purpose. Elena couldn't really believe that though. She couldn't understand what purpose had decided to drive her life and if it was part of some grand scheme she didn't really want to meet whatever was pulling her strings.  
By the same token, she had never looked for anything to 'save her' in some melodramatic miracle. It wasn't that she didn't think that she was unworthy of the 'saving'; she just realized that there were people who deserved miracles more than she did. What did she deserve, lost child turned hooker turned Turk? Nothing more than what she had, that was for sure.  
So, why was she always craving something more? Why was she always looking between the cracks in her paragraphs searching for something else?  
Maybe it was because that she found no meaning in her story that she was so desperate to find something in his. He wasn't exactly helping her though. Then again, maybe he didn't notice that she was looking. Maybe she was just another footnote on his page, an afterthought added in at some odd point in a chapter. Maybe she was little more than a passing phenomenon, barely worthy of the distraction, hardly memorable and soon forgotten. When his story seemed so incredible, so captivating, so wonderful, how could hers be of any interest?  
Funny how she could be little more than a punctuation mark in his story and yet he be so integral to her own. Maybe that was why she never told him no at night. It was so easy to say yes over and over and over again. His story seemed to add meaning to hers, if only for a while. It didn't matter that she didn't matter to him; he was everything to her. God, how she loved and hated him for that.  
In some ways, it seemed to Elena that her life now was really two separate stories running side by side. In one, she was very much the Turk she said she was. Her days made up her first story. They were the Company's days where she sweated and slaved for it without complaint. She had no regrets; she knew better than that. Still, she could laugh for hours at the irony of it all. It was a sick, sick world that had made this her haven. It was sick that as she washed her hands and watched the others die that this was always, *always*, the better place to be. But she had no regrets.  
Her nights were her other story. In so many ways, they were his nights. It was funny, really. She could imagine that that part in her novel could've been written using the same paragraph over and over again. They were together. She felt everything. He felt nothing. Over and over.  
It never ceased to amaze her that her story could have so little time devoted to her. During the day, she was the Company's. During the night, she was his utterly and completely.  
Sometimes, Elena tried to imagine her story's ending. She supposed that all people did that eventually. She never could though. Well, in a way, she supposed that it would end the way all Turk stories ended eventually: a sudden conclusion, written in blood. That was the cost of the leash she had bought herself. But she had no regrets.  
Reno had told her that Turks were always honest with each other but that was a lie, wasn't it? How can you be honest with people when you can't even be truthful with yourself? So: she had no regrets, Tseng had no regrets. Did Reno? Did Rude? The truth was - and it was such a dirty, dirty word truth – the truth was that sometimes she felt like she was drowning in regret. Some days she was sure that she would. It was easier to say that she had none though. Repeat something enough and you believe it to be true, Elena knew. Thus, she had no regrets. There was nothing regrettable about her life. Her life was an open book written in golden ink with a loving tenderness and sealed with a flowery kiss.  
The truth? Her life was written on the back of a paper bag scribbled down in black ink that faded to red somewhere along the line. Her life was an aberration, an afterthought, a lucid man's delusion. But she had no regrets.  
  
Tonight, the night was Elena's. It was one of the few nights where she wasn't still slaving for the Company or with Tseng. Instead, she was just sitting by herself in her living room. The television was playing but she wasn't really listening to it. The colour images flashed across her face but they didn't leave an impression. Tom was curled up on her lap and she was stroking his back absently. It was a little bit past eleven o'clock.  
The shrill ring of her PHS started Elena out of her stupor. She fumbled around in her purse until she found the offending object.  
"Hello?"  
She was quiet for a moment.  
"Yes, of course. I understand. I'll be right in."  
In one quick, fluid motion, Elena got up off her couch, grabbed her jacket, rang a hand through her hair, and headed out of her apartment. Tom was left alone, slightly dazed, with the television still whispering faintly in the background.  
  
When Elena walked into the Turks offices she saw Reno a little bit ahead of her and she called out to him.  
"Reno, what's going on?"  
He turned around to look at her and shrugged.  
"Tseng sent out the call to me and Rude too."  
"So we're all here?"  
He nodded.  
"You know what that means, don't you rookie?" His eyes were sparkling a little.  
"Mission." Elena said simply. Reno nodded.  
"What else?"  
She paused to consider this for a moment. Then, she nodded at Reno.  
"Okay. Let's go."  
They both walked off to meet the others together.  
  
The conference room was really too big for its purpose. One large executive type table, the kind that could easily seat eight or ten people, dominated it. The only other feature in the room was a screen that could be pulled down when slide photos needed to be shown during a mission briefing. Elena had always found the room a little ridiculous because even if Heidegger and the President were to appear at a mission briefing they would only need room for six people, still not enough to warrant the overly large table. As it was, Tseng was standing at the far end of the table with Rude sitting on his left. When they entered the room, Reno glided off to take a chair beside Rude and Elena moved to the right side of the table.  
Rude acknowledged her with a casual nod, as did Tseng. Elena took her seat and automatically opened the unmarked file folder in front of her chair. Inside, there was a photo of a middle-aged man clipped onto a brief personal description of him. There was also an additional shot of a body lying face down in what looked to be some sort of a trash heap. On the second page of her briefing there was the image of another man but this one was horribly obese. She scanned the other papers too. There were several pages of building plans, what looked to be like a reactor output schedule, and a few more pages of timetables and additional information.  
Tseng cleared his throat quietly once and all their eyes turned to him immediately.  
"Two days ago, a body was found outside the Sector Four slums. It was identified to be that of John Kelger, a researcher in the Shin-ra advanced mako weaponry project. Mr Kelger had last been seen two days earlier, leaving the Shin-ra head office around six o'clock.  
After his identity had been established, an investigation was conducted to learn more of the circumstances of his disappearance. It was then that the development team realized that partial plans to several mako powered artillery guns and shells had been removed from Mr. Kelger's office."  
Elena was nodding slowly. She could see where this was going. She could almost imagined Scarlett's agonized screeches at the news.  
"Needless to say, it was quickly concluded that Mr. Kelger had taken the plans with him from the office when he had been last seen four days earlier."  
Elena wondered how the man had managed that. Shin-ra guarded its secrets better than a raven protected its personal bits of shine.  
"It is suspected that he intended to sell the plans to this man," he gestured to the picture shown on the second page of their briefing, "Joseph Harraway."  
"Fat Joe." Reno said, nodding to himself. Tseng nodded.  
"Fat Joe. He's known as a private weapons manufacturer with a base set up in the Sector Five slums. It is suspected that he took the plans from Mr. Kelger and then disposed of the evidence."  
Elena looked at the image presented in her briefing. 'Fat Joe' seemed aptly named. He was a huge man with pale, maggoty skin and sunken eyes. Easily three hundred pounds, his neck was too huge for his head, given him a misshapen appearance. Elena recognized his type: too caught up with life's pleasures. Men like him always left Elena feeling a little bit nauseous. Too often, their idea of pleasure was very closely related to another person's pain.  
"Our objective is this: we need to infiltrate Harraway's stronghold in the Sector Five slums, locate and retrieve the blueprints, destroy all traces of Harraway's operation, and then eliminate him as well."  
Oh yes, Elena could picture Scarlett signing off on this. Total eradication: that was very much her style. She could just see her and Heidegger standing over the files, laughing as they consigned their Turks to it. Something was bothering Elena about this entire situation though.  
"How do we even know that Harraway still has the blueprints? He can't be stupid enough keep them with him in Midgar."  
Reno was the one that answered her.  
"Fat Joe's not stupid but he's too damn proud. He's probably living up the fact that he pulled one over on Shin-ra. Besides, he'll want his own team working on those blueprints. He's a paranoid son-of-a-bitch. There's no way he'd never let something of that value out from under his eye."  
Tseng nodded at Reno's assessment.  
"It is exactly his paranoia, however, that he will have to contend with."  
He gestured to the building schematics.  
"Harraway spends a great deal of money maintaining his own personal security network. Hallway cameras, alarms at all crucial entrances, motion detectors . . ."  
"Sounds like home," Reno joked. Rude snorted.  
"In any case," Tseng continued, "It is top of the line equipment and will be very difficult to bypass."  
"But. . ." Rude said, the tiniest of smiles peeking at the tips of his mouth.  
"But none of that is going to be functioning when we move in."  
Elena's eyes widened at that and then suddenly it dawned on her.  
"The Reactor."  
Tseng nodded.  
"All reactors have a specific maintenance schedule that they follow. During a maintenance cycle, all output is cut for the duration."  
"It's too easy." Reno said suddenly. Again, Tseng nodded.  
"Naturally, Harraway is aware of this slight flaw in his security grid. He owns his own personal generator."  
This time it was Reno's turn to act surprised.  
"His own generator."  
"It's not mako driven of course but Harraway has arranged his entire security grid to be able to switch from its mako energy source to an older fossil fuel driven generator."  
"That must've cost him a fortune." Elena mused.  
"It did but it is effective."  
"So, what? What's the benefit of the reactor cutting its output if Harraway can just switch on his generator?"  
This time, Tseng smiled. It was a knowing smile, a smile that seemed to be saying 'check mate'.  
"There is a ten minute window between the cross-over sequence."  
All three Turks nodded at once. It was a short time frame but it wouldn't be impossible.  
"We must use that window to destroy the back-up generator. With the main system down, we will be able to move relatively freely throughout the compound. Once the generator is destroyed, we destroy the main computer, here," he taped his blueprints, "in the central computer nexus. Then, we find Harraway, assassinate him, plant our charges, and go."  
"Boom," added Reno.  
"Boom." Tseng confirmed. "We're going to be divided into two teams on this one. Reno and Rude, you take the southern entrance, here. Elena and I will enter will be going in from the roof. We'll move in and destroy the back up generator. At the same time, you two will head to the central nexus and plant charges there. Elena and I will go after Harraway. When you are clear of the compound, send us the all-clear signal. If you do not receive our confirmation within two minutes, detonate regardless. Understand?"  
Reno and Rude both nodded.  
"The reactors were designed to have twenty minute maintenance cycles. Thus, Elena and I will have a maximum of ten minutes to destroy the backup generator but if we do not detonate before those twenty minutes are up, then the security grid will be back in place. Our charges will all be located and disabled before we have time to detonate. So, if either of our groups are out without confirmation of the other and it is within ten seconds of our red line, we detonate. No excuses and no exceptions."  
Again, they all nodded.  
"I want silencers and hand weapons only on this one with materia only to be used at the absolute necessity. Stealth and speed are the essence of this mission. I do not want this to degenerate into a firefight. Our window is too thin to afford mistakes."  
Tseng took a moment to consider his Turks then. They were all looking at him with hard expressions and determination. It made him proud.  
"Are there any questions?"  
They had none.  
"Good."  
As a unit, the stood and headed out of the conference room. They would be leaving soon but first they had to visit one of the locked rooms in the Turks offices: the Artillery Room.  
  
The Artillery Room was perhaps the most unobtrusive looking room in the entire Turks floor. When you entered it, there was absolutely nothing in it except for blank white walls. There was, however, one keypad beside the door, coupled with a number pad. Tseng walked up to it, swiped his key card, and tapped a series of numbers on the keypad. Suddenly, a low humming sound could be heard, the soft music of machinery. Then, miraculously, a number of near-invisible panels in the walls opened up revealing rows upon rows of weaponry.  
Elena had always liked the Artillery Room. There was something about so many things appearing out of nowhere that fascinated her. She knew all of the room's contents by heart. There were rows of handguns and extra rounds, silencers, and attachable sensor scopes. There were also all manner of heavier equipment like shotguns, automatic riffles, and even some submachine guns, each conveniently placed beside its choice ammunition. Most admirable were the lines of sniper riffles though. Each were state of the art examples of weaponry. They were easy to handle, fast to assemble and dismantle, and each had been custom made for each of the Turks. There were rows of special ammunition as well, depending of the type of shot needed. Some were just ordinary bullets while others were specially designed to exit a target's body and then literally disintegrate as soon as they came in contact with any sort of substance more durable than human flesh. These were particularly useful in assassinations that Shin-ra did not want to be readily affiliated with. There were, however, times when identification was a necessity and so there were also specialized bullets marked with the Shin-ra logo to be used as a message of sorts.  
There were also special parts of the room designated to house equipment for stealth missions: night vision goggles, near-invisible communicators, tracking devices, untraceable poisons, efficient hand weapons, and miniature explosives. Of explosives themselves, there was an endless supply. Some were small, obsolete looking objects with enough firepower to disintegrate entire city blocks. There were, of course, the more traditional kinds: grenades, remote mines, and C-4.  
Lastly, there was the materia wall. Shin-ra had access to the most specific and effective materia. They glowed faintly, their colours identifying their purpose: fire, lighting, cure, heal, destruct, barrier, and many others.  
Each Turk moved about the room with a calculated efficiency and the once quiet room was filled with the soft clicking noises of weaponry being assembled. Rude choose two 12-round hand guns and equipped them with their appropriate silencers. He tucked them into holsters he had strapped against his chest and took with him a few extra cartridges. He also secreted a few throwing knives up the sleeves of his jacket and equipped fire, lighting, and cure materia.  
Reno took his EMR of course and a few back-up power packs. He too took a 12-round handgun, silencer equipped. He selected a few elemental materia but, unlike Rude, declined to use any curative magic. He counted on Rude for that.  
Tseng assembled his weaponry with a practiced efficiency. He took two handguns strapped to his chest, a long, thin knife strapped against his leg, and some elemental and defensive materia.  
Elena too chose two handguns but she, unlike the others, selected a few of the miniature explosives that the Shin-ra weapons division had concocted a few months ago. There were no bigger than small marbles but when they connected with their targets at a certain force they exploded with a surprising yield. She preferred them immensely to the too bulky hand grenades. For her materia, she selected some elemental and curative materia but she also took some status-based materia as well. Mystify was a personal favourite of hers.  
Each one of the Turks took with them some of the tiny communications equipment that consisted of an earpiece and one tiny microphone that could be place in the cuff of their jackets. They also each took a pair of night vision goggles which would give them an edge in the darkened hallways of Harraway's compound.  
Finally ready, they all filed out of the room and headed to the final door in the locked part of their offices. Hidden and concealed from outside view, a single elevator that opened only for them linked the Turks floor with the ground level and all other parts of the Shin-ra headquarters. Not only did this allow the Turks easy access to their own level without drawing the attention of the outside public but it also linked them to all other levels in the building. Very few people realized this but the entire building was set up with secret corridors running between walls. Sometimes necessity took the Turks on missions very close to home indeed. Spying was an accepted company policy.  
This time, however, the Turks headed into their personal elevator and selected the rooftop level of the Shin-ra building. There, a helicopter would be waiting for them. From then on, it was just one short flight until they reached Sector Five and Harraway's compound.  
  
~~~  
  
Responses:  
  
Jess Angel: Thanks again for the review Jess Angel. Your constant 'pat on the back' reviews are very kind. I'm glad that you liked the first little bit about Reno. I was really happy when you pulled out that little line about Reno's eyes because I was rather proud of that one *blushes*. I'm glad that you liked Detox too. Tseng/Elena moment was a little bit odd to write but I'm generally pleased with the way it turned out.  
As for Tseng and Elena. . . well, I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't quite what you were looking for. I admit I sort of avoided the 'Tseng and Elena getting back together' moment but I really wanted to move this story along. It still turned out more introspective than I imagined it would though. No book this time 'round though. It'll definitely come back though, if not in the next chapter then definitely in chapter 9. ^_^  
  
Heather Cat: *waves back* So glad you thought of little old me! Yeah, I just might have bent a few rules by having a flashback within a flashback. Glad you enjoyed it though. I'm also happy to hear that you like the whole Tseng, Elena, and Reno relationship. As for where I'm going with all of this. . . it is my secret! Mwahahaha! *winks* 


	8. Salvation: Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Well, I didn't quite get it posted over the Easter weekend but I did manage to write it! Sorry to take so long to update. For a while, I was fighting off a nasty case of writer's block but I'm better now! This chapter happens to be my first attempt at an action plotline and so some feedback would be very much appreciated. ^_^  
  
~Salvation (8)~  
  
The muted noises of the helicopter's blades made a strange backdrop for their flight. Below them, Midgar stretched out in an infinite sea of lights with more stars below than could ever be seen above.  
Elena had never seen the stars as a child. The harsh lights of the city had always blocked them out. The first time she had come across them had been, almost ironically, on a mission as a Turk. That had been what had finally taken her out of the city and allowed her the chance to look up.  
Now, in their black Shin-ra helicopter, Elena couldn't see the stars and so she stopped trying. She looked over at Reno in front of her. He was leaning forward and so his dark red hair was obscuring most of his face. A tiny little thread of smoke drifted up around him. She grinned in bemusement at the bright red 'no smoking' sign above his head. It wasn't as if their pilots were going to stop him.  
Rude was sitting beside her, his head resting back against the wall. His eyes were closed but she knew that he wasn't sleeping. Tseng was also mimicking Rude's attitude except that he was leaning forward, his chin resting cupped in his hands.  
Elena cast a glance at her watch. It was 11:58. The power would go out in Sector Five at exactly twelve. Judging by her watch, they had almost reached their destination. She would've asked Reno about it - he was the only person she knew who could find exact locations in the slums from overhead – but she knew better than to bother any of them right now. Instead, she leaned back and listened to the dull thwack of the helicopter's spinning blades.  
She felt Rude shift beside her and he stood up awkwardly in the confined helicopter's space. Then was a long compartment above of his head and from there he pulled out a thin, suitcase-like container. He popped it open and smoothly fitted the case's contents together to reveal a silver snipper riffle. Suddenly, a section of Midgar's lights blinked out of existence. *Twelve o'clock*, Elena thought grimly to herself. Rude flicked on his night vision goggles and moved to the open entrance of the helicopter. Reno snuffed his cigarette beneath his boot.  
Rude took his aim carefully and examined the scene before him.  
"Four on the roof," Rude said quietly. Tseng nodded.  
"Take the shoot."  
In four quick snaps of the trigger, it was over. The security on the rooftop had been neutralized. With that, Rude quickly dissembled the riffle and put it back in its compartment. Elena felt a change in the helicopter's motion and realized that they were just hovering above the building now.  
Each of the Turks stood and assembled at the helicopter's open doorway. Neither of the pilots looked over to wish them luck. It would not have been appropriate.  
One after another, they hooked themselves to the rappelling line attached to the helicopter's body and slid down the fifteen-foot drop to the roof. Once they had hit the roof, they assembled briefly before setting off in their assigned groups. Reno and Rude reached the edge of the roof and then in a moment were gone, rappelling down to ground level. Elena looked at her watch. 12:01. *Nineteen minutes*, she thought. Then, she and Tseng both headed toward the exterior stairwell that lead into the compound.  
  
Reno looked down at the sheer drop from the roof and felt his pulse quicken. He wasn't frightened though. He jabbed his rappelling line into the concrete side on the building and tugged it twice to make sure that it was secure. Then, he looked over at Rude and grinned.  
He threw himself over the edge of the side and fell. He had always loved this. For a moment, it felt like you could fall forever until your line tightened and you bounced off the side of the building, flying again.  
It was over far too quickly and Reno thumbed the release on the rappelling line. It sprang off its place at the roof and the device quickly ravelled up to its original compact form. The rope mechanisms were just one of the many marvels that Shin-ra had created especially for its Turks.  
When Rude thumped down beside him and had secured his line as well, Reno gestured for quiet and motioned that they had to move around to the back of the building. That was where they were going to make their entrance.  
  
Tseng paused at the foot of the stairwell and listened to the sounds coming from behind the closed door. It lead to the fifth and top level of the compound. The backup generator was located on the fourth and Harraway's office was on the third.  
He gestured to Elena to come forward and mimed that he couldn't hear anyone beyond the door. That didn't mean that there wasn't anyone there though. She took a breath and nodded her assent. Quietly, Tseng pushed open the door to the fifth floor only to find the hallway deserted. He looked back at Elena who nodded once and they both made their way down the hallway, their guns at the ready.  
  
Reno paused at the edge of the building. He could hear two men talking. He motioned to Rude to stay low.  
"What the fuck's happened?"  
"Don't worry. It's just the power. Fucking Reactor's prob'ly on the blitz 'gain."  
"Fucking Shin-ra assholes."  
"Yeah, well, the Boss's one step up on 'em. The generator'll kick in soon."  
"Hey, that think it's them. . . what're they called, AVALANCHE guys again?"  
"Na, didn't ya hear? Heard they all died when the Plate fell on 'em. Crash! Pancakes, ha?"  
Both of the men chuckled a little. Sensing his opportunity, Reno darted out from his hiding place.  
"The fuck?" one yelled.  
Two tiny snaps sounded and both men crumbled. Reno walked forward and nudged one of the men in the ribs. It seemed he wasn't quite dead yet. Dispassionately, Reno lowered his gun again, this time hitting the man square in the head. He didn't twitch again.  
"Come on, Rude." Reno hissed. They both ran into the compound.  
  
Tseng paused at a door and tried its handle. It opened smoothly. He gestured to Elena to follow him in. The room seemed to be some sort of a storage locker.  
"This is as good a place as any," Tseng whispered. Elena nodded. She walked forward to plant their charge and Tseng watched the hallway from the doorway. A tiny series of beeps sounded in the closet as Elena prepped the explosive. Tseng cast a glance at his watch. 12:04.  
"Hurry up Elena," he whispered.  
"Charge ready," she whispered back. She stashed the explosive in a box of old workers clothes.  
"Let's go," she said quietly but Tseng held out his hand to her. She froze.  
*How many*, she mimed to him.  
He held up four fingers.  
  
Rude stood up from the charge that he had just hidden in a waste paper basket. They were in a small office on the first floor.  
"Done," he whispered. Suddenly, he looked up.  
"What?" Reno whispered.  
Rude held a finger to his lips and then Reno heard it too. Footsteps. And voices.  
"That's right, two men dead at the back entrance."  
There was a second voice but it was faint and distant. *A walkie- talkie*, Reno thought. The first voice was coming in clearer.  
"No, I'm on the first floor. Just checking things out."  
Reno and Rude moved soundlessly to the front of the room, Reno taking position behind the door and Rude crouched beside it. The footsteps were coming closer. They paused at the door.  
*Shit*, Reno thought, and he readied himself.  
"No, I don't know. It's just that. . ."  
The man turned the doorknob and pushed open the door. He was shocked to find it slam back at him.  
"Fuck!" he swore, dropping his walkie-talkie and fumbling for his gun. Rude was faster. He kicked it away from the man and then brought his hand down on the back of the man's neck. He crumbled in an instant. The two Turks took only long enough to pull the man completely into the room and close the door behind them before they were off to the second floor where their main target, the central computer room, was located.  
  
Tseng's mind raced. He could hear the men coming closer. He considered their surroundings. If they were caught in this storage room, they were as good as dead. They were only about five meters from a junction between their hallway and another one. It was a longer route to reach the stairwell that lead to the fourth floor but they didn't have much choice. Making his decision quickly, he gestured back to Elena. *Follow and covering fire*, he mimed. She nodded.  
Suddenly, both Turks darted out of the room, already firing. One of the men screamed and fell, clutching his leg. Elena hurled one of her small explosives at the group. It made a deafening noise and another man screamed. She could hear a man yelling orders but couldn't make out the words. She chased after Tseng, running with all her might.  
They rounded the corner to the next hallway and ran down its length. A bullet flew past her head, making plaster fly as it collided with the wall. Swearing, she shot blindly behind her as she ran after Tseng.  
There was another hallway coming up on their right and she dove into it after Tseng. She could hear the throbbing sound of gunfire above her. Tseng reached over her and threw something she didn't see. There was the sound of a small explosion and then men coughing. Smoke bomb.  
"Come on," Tseng said, pulling Elena roughly to her feet. They ran to the door at the end of their hallway marked 'stairs'.  
  
Reno swore under his breath when he felt the explosion that rocked one of the higher floors.  
"So much for stealth," Reno muttered under his breath. He looked over at Rude.  
"Come on, we gotta make it to that computer room."  
  
Elena was panting softly when they reached the stairwell. She looked over at Tseng and was shocked to see him clutching his chest in pain. An angry red smear darkened much of his suit. Her eyes widened and she selected a cure materia from her bangle.  
"Don't bother," Tseng said through gritted teeth. "The bullet's. . . still in the wound. Magic will only make it worse."  
Elena nodded numbly but couldn't quite take her eyes off Tseng's wound. *There's so much blood*, she thought to herself.  
Tseng pushed himself up off of the wall and gestured to Elena.  
"Come on. We have to find the generator."  
  
Rude held out a tiny glass mirror, barely more wide that his pinkie finger. He squinted at the image presented to him. He had the mirror angled to reveal to him what was waiting for them around the corner. He and Reno were in a hallway that connected to the main hallway that contained the computer matrix. As they had suspected, there were guards waiting for them. Obviously, they had been alerted by the commotion in the upper floors.  
Rude snapped his mirror shut and looked back at Reno. He held up three fingers and Reno nodded. They weren't going to be able to take these men by surprise. Suddenly, he grinned. He pulled out a light green materia orb and a faint purple one from his bangle. Rude nodded. Reno edged forward to pass Rude. He needed to be able to see his targets to cast his spell. He closed his eyes, letting his awareness of the magic fill him. When he felt that he had reached the point where the magic fluttered almost tangibly before him, he moved forward in one smooth motion. His eyes took in the three men before him.  
"Fire2, All."  
In a flash, three raging fires sprang up. One of the men still managed to get off a shot though and Reno had to dodge back behind the cover of his wall. The moment he lost eye contact with his targets, the fires stopped burning.  
Feeling slightly dizzy from the spell, Reno looked over at Rude. He could hear a man groaning. Rude nodded.  
He stepped out from the protection of the wall offered him. Two blackened lumps remained on the floor but one was still moving slowly. Rude's eyes widened though when he saw two more men coming out from the computer room. He managed one shot before having to duck behind the wall again. In the corner of his eye, he saw one man recoil, clutching his chest. The side of his wall was suddenly pounded by an onslaught of bullets.  
Rude turned to Reno only to notice then that his partner was no longer beside him. He frowned and wondered where the other man had gone. Then, the barrage against his hiding spot ceased. Rude waited a moment, but then he heard a familiar voice.  
"What're ya waiting for Rude?"  
Rude grinned a little as he walked around to meet Reno. Two men lay sprawled at his feet and he had his mag rod in hand.  
"Distraction?" Rude asked. Reno grinned and nodded.  
". . . You could've said something." Rude added.  
"And ruin the surprise?" Reno chuckled. Then, he gestured to the door. "Come on. Let's finish this."  
Rude nodded and they both headed into the room.  
  
Elena and Tseng had reached the base of the stairs when they heard a door open above them.  
"They followed us!" Elena said in alarm. From their position at the base of the stairs, they couldn't tell how many there were but they knew that they were up there. Tseng's eyes flicked down to his watch. 12:07. They didn't have time for this!  
"Come on," he told Elena again and they both ran out onto the fourth floor. Tseng observed the hallway that they had just ran into: it split into a right and left direction. Suddenly though, he realized that he couldn't remember which way to turn from here.  
"Left!" Elena cried. Tseng nodded and took off in that direction. As they ran, Elena lobbed something behind her and it sailed through the closing door. Another concussion shook the floor. They ran to the edge of the corridor and then took another left and then ran to another junction that lead them down a corridor to the right. They both skidded to a halt when they saw the two men standing at the end of the hallway. Tseng was the first to move. He snapped off one shot before one of the men had a chance to react. The other was faster though. He pulled off one shot, aimed right at Tseng.  
"Barrier!" Elena screamed. To the man's amazement, the bullet that would've cost Tseng his life suddenly shuddered to a stop mid-air and then fell. Tseng moved before the man could overcome his shock and retaliated, letting two shots fly.  
Elena suddenly spun around when she heard a noise behind her. She caught the man that had been trying to attack them with a shot in the shoulder. He stumbled backwards but then brought his weapon back up. Tseng's shot finished him and he fell backwards.  
Both of them paused, waiting for some sound of pursuit but there was none. Suddenly, Tseng became aware of the pain in his chest again and he clutched his side. When he pulled back his hand, it was black from his own sticky blood.  
Without glancing back at Elena, he headed down to the end of the hallway. The generator lay behind that door.  
  
The main computer room consisted of several small workstations, some filling cabinets, a few dead surveillance cameras, and one large screen on the back wall. Reno glided over to a computer terminal and slid into a chair. He could hear Rude prepping their next charge. He pulled out a black box and attached it to the computer's power cord. Suddenly, the terminal whirred to life. Reno pulled out a floppy and rammed it into the computer's diskette drive. A message flashed up on the screen.  
"Downloading!" Reno yelled over to Rude. The other man nodded and fiddled with the charge a little more.  
"Charge ready," he said. He concealed the bomb beneath one of the workstations.  
Reno watched a small bar fill up on the computer's screen. He looked down at his watch. 12:08.  
"Come on," he muttered under his breath.  
  
The generator room was mostly empty. A few blank computers huddled around a large, furnace-like apparatus. A few lights blinked on it, signs that the machine was readying itself to begin supplying energy to Harraway's compound. Tseng was fusing with their charge, preparing it to detonate. Elena watched his motions and tried not to wince at how his hands were shaking. Her face was creased in permanent worry though. Tseng's breath was coming in short, ragged gasps. Finally done, he looked up at her, a grim smile painting his face.  
"Charge set."  
Elena nodded and they both headed moved towards the door. Suddenly, there was a huge bang and then the distinct whirr of bullets.  
"Shit!" Elena yelled and she dove back into the cover of the room, firing as she went. "There's gotta be at least six of them. There's not way that we can get out of here!"  
She looked back at Tseng. There was sweat pooling on his forward and he was clutching the wound in his chest.  
"What're we going to do?"  
Tseng didn't respond. Elena yelled again.  
"Tseng, what are we going to do?"  
This time, his eyes darted around the room, searching for another exit. The door was the only way out though. He swore quietly under his breath. Then, his eyes widened.  
"There!" he said, pointing at an exhaust vent on the back wall.  
"Are you sure?" Elena asked. Tseng nodded.  
"It's the only way out of here."  
Elena nodded her consent and pulled out two of her small explosives.  
"Got any more smoke bombs?" she asked.  
Tseng tossed her one.  
"Last one," he cautioned.  
"I'll make it count."  
Tseng moved off to the back of the room to try and pull of the vent's grate. Elena scurried back to the door again and let off a few rounds for good measure. Then, diving across the doorway, she threw out her two explosives, one in each direction of the hallway. The concussion from their blasts rocked the room and she could hear someone screaming. She tossed out Tseng's smoke bomb to give them some cover and she could hear the men start to cough.  
Tseng had succeeded in tearing open the grate and was gesturing to her frantically to come. Elena couldn't hear what he was saying though; her ears were ringing from the force of her own explosions. She stumbled across the room to where Tseng was standing. He clasped his hands together to give her a boost up to the grate. Elena crawled inside and moved inwards. Tseng jumped up and was just barely able to grab the edge of the grate. She heard him hiss in pain again. Elena looked over her shoulder – the grate was far too cramped to turn around in – and saw Tseng pull himself up. He wiggled his way further into the grate as well and motioned Elena forward. That wasn't before she was able to see the black line that he was leaving behind him though.  
Elena scrambled along on her elbows and knees. The sharp metal from the vent was digging into her painfully. They had to find some way out of this shaft. Otherwise, if their charge were to blow, they'd still be caught up in the explosive. Elena didn't have time to look at her watch but she felt the seconds ticking by too quickly.  
Suddenly, she felt a shift in the air in the ventilation shaft.  
"Tseng!" she called. "I think there's a way out."  
"Good," he replied from behind her. Elena didn't like the way his voice sounded.  
"Tseng?" she asked.  
"Don't stop, Elena," Tseng admonished. Elena continued crawling forward. Then, she could see it; a grate that lead into another room.  
"Tseng, hurry!" she called back to him.  
Struggling forward, she wiggled down to the grate and forced it open. Awkwardly, she half crawled, half fell out of the confined space. She hit the hard concrete floor and winced at the painful impact. Then, she saw Tseng's dark form. He too tumbled free of the vent.  
Wincing and panting, Tseng sat up and pulled out his watch. On one side, there was a large red button. He pushed it.  
  
Reno stumbled forward as a huge explosion suddenly rocked the building. He looked at his watch. 12:09. Beneath the time, there was a small flashing message. *Charge detonated*. Reno snorted.  
"Yeah, like I needed you to tell me that."  
"What?" Rude asked.  
"Nothing. Tseng's blown the generator."  
A small ping sounded from his computer console.  
"And the download's done."  
"We're out?" Rude asked.  
"Yeah, we gotta go."  
Reno snatched the floppy disk and the power supply. Then, both of the men left the room and headed for the stairwell.  
  
Elena coughed. There was a fine sheen of dust in the air. She pushed off a piece of debris that had fallen on her and winced a little when she breathed it. She wasn't hurt badly but she could certainly be very bruised tomorrow morning.  
"Tseng?" Elena asked and then coughed again.  
"Here," came the reply.  
Elena stumbled over to when the voice had come from and shifted away some of the debris that had fallen after the explosion. Tseng was lying against the wall beneath the grate. She could hear a faint rattle in his breathing.  
"Tseng?" she asked again. The older Turk nodded wearily. Most of him was covered in a fine grey powder but the wound in his chest was already darkening his clothing again. It just wouldn't stop bleeding.  
Elena pulled off her jacket. She grabbed a twisted piece of scrap metal that had fallen from the ceiling and used it to cut her jacket into four large bandages. She helped Tseng lean forward and then tied them around the wound in his chest. He coughed and winced when she did so. Elena looked into his eyes. They looked very glazed.  
"Can you stand?" she asked softly.  
"I think so," he muttered.  
Elena gave him her hand and Tseng hauled himself up slowly. He stumbled once and Elena had to catch him. She let him lean his arm across her shoulders and was shocked by how much weight he had to put on her.  
"Tseng?" she asked again. Tseng shook his head wearily.  
"This won't work Elena. We only have, what, ten minutes?"  
"Nine."  
Tseng swore quietly again.  
"I'll slow you down too much. You have to finish the mission."  
"Like Hell Tseng. If you think I'm just going to leave you here. . ." she trailed off, her threat hanging heavy between them. Tseng chuckled very softly and then hissed at the pain it caused in his chest.  
"What do you suggest then, Elena?"  
She could hear the sarcasm in his tone but ignored it.  
"I think I know where we are," she said. "We must be. . . less than twenty meters from the stairwell. From there, we head to the third floor, kill Harraway, and set our last charge. Then, we leave."  
"That's it?" Tseng asked. This time Elena chuckled.  
"Yeah, that's it."  
Tseng nodded wearily and then pushed himself away from Elena. For a moment, she thought that he was going to fall again but he surprised her and managed to stand by himself.  
"Okay. . . let's go."  
  
Reno and Rude hit the pavement at a dead run. Rude turned back and fired three quick shots behind him. He heard one man grunt and fall but there were still two more. Both he and Reno dove behind a parked car and winced as the bullets thudded into their steel barrier.  
Both of them had made it to the first floor without incident but when they had been trying to make it out of the building, they had ran into three of Harraway's armed thugs. Now, they were pinned down on a side street in front of the building.  
"Any ideas?" Reno yelled over the gunfire.  
Rude looked down at his bangle. Magic wouldn't do them much good; there was no way that either of them could maintain eye contact long enough to cast a decent spell. Besides, they were both running purely on adrenaline now and they both knew it. There were only so many times that you could dive away from someone trying to shoot holes in you without showing the strain. Suddenly, Rude's eyes widened and he looked over at Reno. Reno, realizing what his partner was about to attempt, suddenly felt nauseous.  
"That is a *bad* idea Rude."  
"You have a better one?" he asked. He didn't.  
Rude pulled out a brightly glowing green materia orb. It was a nearly mastered fire materia.  
"Shit, be careful Rude."  
Rude nodded. He slinked down onto his stomach to look where the men who were attacking them were positioned. Then, carefully as he could be, he rolled the materia towards them. The tiny green orb traveled towards the three unsuspecting men. When Rude saw that it was close enough to them, he shot the materia twice. The once flawless orb cracked under the pressure and a bright red light could suddenly be seen within. The men stopped shooting at Reno and Rude and suddenly noticed the tiny no-longer-green materia in front of them. The fracture along the materia's body grew until it cracked audibly. Then, a huge concussion of energy suddenly swept out of it, knocking Reno and Rude both to the ground.  
"Shit!" Reno yelled as the incredible explosion rocked the area. Energy that had been forced into the materia's spherical form by an unimaginable amount of pressure was now released in all of its fury to decimate everything that it touched. Then, just as suddenly as the explosion had started, it stopped.  
With a sense of trepidation, Reno uncovered his head. He could hear the sound of a broken water pipe pouring its contents into the streets but the bullets were no longer ringing.  
"I'll be damned," he muttered. "It fucking worked."  
He clapped Rude on the shoulder and his partner looked up at him. Both of them were covered in dust and they both had a few cuts from flying debris but they were otherwise unhurt.  
"Let's get out of here," Reno said and Rude nodded. Both men stumbled off into a waiting alleyway. As they went, Reno keyed in a short message on his wristwatch. It was 12:13. He hoped that Elena and Tseng were all right.  
  
Elena looked down at her watch were a tiny message was flashing beneath the time.  
"Rude and Reno are out," she said.  
"Good," Tseng replied.  
They had made it to the stairwell and now had to find their way to Harraway's main office. There, they would be able to finish their mission.  
When they made it out onto the hallway on the third floor, Elena was surprised to see how much damage their explosion had caused. Whole support beams seemed to have fallen from the ceiling and there was a fine layer of dust in the air.  
"This way," she told Tseng, tugging him along by the sleeve of his jacket. They headed down the right junction of the hallway, and then walked until they came to one of the left. There, they turned again until they reached another junction on the right. Finally, they came face to face with the door to Harraway's office. The exterior looked deserted but Elena had the strong feeling that the man wouldn't be alone on the inside.  
"What do you think?" she asked Tseng.  
"I think he has some men with him on the inside." Tseng drew a shuddering breath.  
"What should we do?" she asked.  
"Do you have any of your explosives left?"  
"Only one. How many rounds do you have?"  
"Two. You?"  
"One."  
He nodded.  
"All right. We move into position, break down the door, use your explosive to create confusion inside, and then we go in and take out as many as we can."  
Elena nodded.  
"Elena," Tseng said, looking her straight in the face. There was an intensity there that she rarely saw. "No matter what, one of us has to be able to detonate the rest of the charges. Understand?"  
She nodded.  
"Good."  
Tseng checked his ammunition and Elena followed suit. She slipped her remaining explosive into her hand. She nodded when she was ready and both of them headed towards the door at the end of the hallway. They pressed themselves against the far wall and Tseng took aim at the glass of the office door. Two shots shattered the glass and Elena tossed her explosive inside. There was the sound of a large explosion and then suddenly they were both moving towards the entry. Elena rolled out of the way and felt Tseng do so as well but in another direction. In one fluid motion, she was on her feet and running for cover, firing all the way. There were three, no four other men in the room and a fifth lay dead close to the door. Elena dove behind a sofa in the corner of the room. Cotton fluff flew everywhere as it was suddenly beaten by a stream of bullets.  
She leaned out and fired back, hitting one of her opponents in the chest. Three more. She heard one man cry out and surmised that Tseng had killed another one. Two more. She tried to move out again but was interceded by another barrage of fire. Another man cried out. Last one. Elena moved out from her shelter and her bullet caught the man in the leg. He fell down and her second shot took him right in the chest. He didn't move again afterwards.  
Elena saw Tseng rise up from another corner of the room but he stumbled back to his knees as he did so. Elena crossed the distance between them in an instant. His breath was ragged now and the blood from his wound had completely soaked through her makeshift bandage. Elena raised Tseng's head to make him look at her. His eyes were glazed over from pain.  
"Tseng?" she asked quietly, her voice sounding weak to her own ears.  
"Harraway," he said through gritted teeth. She nodded.  
Standing wearily, she left Tseng on his knees in the rubble. She could hear something coming from behind a huge oak desk cantered in the middle of the room. She kept her weapon at the ready as she moved forward cautiously.  
Elena went to the back of the desk and her eyes widened at what she saw. Joseph Harraway, famed and feared throughout all of the slums, had his entire massive girth hidden beneath his desk. He was rocking back and force the way a small child might. His eyes were shut tight but a few tears leaked out from behind his eyelids.  
"Please. . . please," he was whispering to himself over and over again.  
"Joe Harraway?"  
The man whined a little.  
"Go away, please go away," he moaned.  
"Harraway," Elena said with a strength in her voice that she didn't really feel she possessed. He opened his eyes at looked up at her, tears still sliding down his face. He sniffled loudly. Elena shook her head wearily.  
"You should have known better."  
The shot rang out hollow in the room and Harraway slumped forward onto the floor, he blood pooling around him.  
Elena finally returned her weapon to her holster and walked back over to Tseng. She sat down beside him again. He had his head down and his breath was coming out in faint gasps.  
Elena glanced down at her watch again. It was 12:17. There was no way that they would be able to make it all the way down to the first level with Tseng in this condition.  
Elena looked around the large office room and frowned, looking at the huge windows that covered the right wall of the office. Harraway had obviously liked the view from the top.  
"Tseng. . ." Elena said, nudging him gently. "Come on Tseng, get up. We have to go."  
He nodded and tried to pull himself up but failed miserably. Elena felt her heart catch in her chest and she moved forward to help him to his feet. With her half-carrying him, they both moved to the huge windows. For the last time that night, Elena raised her gun. It took four shots before the glass shattered.  
"Do you still have you rappelling line?" she asked him. Tseng nodded.  
"Do you think you can manage it?" she asked. Tseng frowned.  
"I'm. . . not sure."  
"You're going to have to try, Tseng." Elena said the words soothingly but also with a commanding tone. Tseng nodded.  
She helped him wrap his line around himself and anchor it to the ground. Then, she proceeded to do the same. At the window's edge, Elena paused to contemplate the sheer drop below her. She had never gotten completely used to this.  
"Ready?" she asked. Tseng nodded.  
"Ready."  
Elena pushed off first and then Tseng followed her. It was a huge leap and it seemed to take forever for them to fall back towards the building. Elena hit the side of the building and with a practiced motion sprang back out almost instantly to start falling again. She was further down than Tseng and so was able to see his legs crumble at the impact. Instead of flying back out again, he simply started to drop.  
"Tseng!" Elena screamed at him. If he didn't correct his fall he would. . .  
"Tseng!" She knew it was foolish but she grabbed her rope, stopping her motion in mid swig. She screamed as the rope burned into her flesh and she was suddenly falling back towards the building at an incredible swig. She hit the building too hard for her legs to compensate and her knees buckled too but she kept a death grip on her rappelling line. She had to time this right.  
As Tseng shot down past her, Elena suddenly reached out and . . . grabbed the shoulder of Tseng's jacket. She grunted at the sudden weight and her line shuddered with it.  
"Tseng. . ." she said through gritted teeth. His eyes fluttered when he heard her voice and only then did she realize that he had passed out.  
"Tseng!" she said again, more forcefully this time. His eyes widened and blinked several times. Then, his hand shot out and grasped hers. They were both dangling two floors above the ground. Elena knew that if she let go of Tseng, he'd be unable to story his own freefall. Gritting her teeth, she slowly let her rope slide through her hand. The material burned and then cut through her hand and she felt the rope growing slick from her own blood but she didn't let go. Slowly, she lowered both herself and Tseng down. After what seemed an eternity, she eventually felt the soft, loving touch of the ground beneath her feet.  
She disconnected herself and Tseng from their lines and then placed his arm over her shoulder again. She led him a little bit away from the building and down a back alley. From there, she considered the scene in front of her and then checked her watch. 12:19.  
"Right on time," she muttered.  
Elena hit the small, red button on the side on her watch.  
  
Reno saw a tiny red light flash in the corner of his watch. He too pushed a red button.  
  
At 12:20, the power in the Sector Five slums returned. Then, in the bright glare of artificial lights, people stood in wonder at what once had been a veritable fortress now reduced to a pitiful smoking ruin.  
Overhead and unnoticed, a small inconspicuous black helicopter flew back to the centre of the city.  
  
~~~  
  
Responses: Like I said, I'm really sorry to have taken so long to post. So. . . even though its been so long that you guys probably don't even remember what you said in your last reviews, here's some responses! Hee hee.  
  
Heather Cat: Heh, lock and load indeed. Lots of Turks stuff in this chapter. Did it turn out okay? I glad that you liked the little introspective Elena moment at the start of chapter 7. That came out pretty randomly. I was half-tempted to make it a chapter in itself but I didn't much care for yet another introspective Elena chapter. Missions are much more fun, don't you think Heather Cat? *grins* Super Spy!  
  
Jess Angel: Hmm, you've had similar thoughts about the book analogy? I must admit that it's been done before but, considering how important that stupid little book seems to be for my story, I figured that it was acceptable. Not much Tseng/Elena-ness in this chapter either! Don't worry though; it'll definitely come back. If it's not back by chapter 9, it'll certainly be back in chapter 10. Heh, I wonder if I'll manage to surprise you with what happens? *grins* 


	9. Salvation: Chapter 9

Author's Notes: One huge thank you goes out to Heather Cat. Thanks for being a sounding board and for listening to numerous long-winded rants. Thanks especially for 'Do You Like It' by Our Lady Peace because without it this chapter and the subsequent ones would've been far more difficult to write.  
An Apology: I think I agree with Neil Gaiman. To paraphrase: events are cowards and don't occur singly but instead leap out at people all at once. (_Neverwhere_) Unfortunately, I was sort of out of the country for a while and so was unable to post. After returning to Canada, I ended up spending a few terrible long nights trying frantically to catch up on the days I had missed. Thankfully, everything is back to normal now.   
A Note: When I started writing this story, my summary for it was "You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving." by Amy Carmichael. I changed it when I realized that that was a little too vague to serve as a summary but the idea is still at the heart of my story.  
  
Salvation (9)   
  
Elena was sitting on the surgical bed in Detox with her head was nodding forward. It was somewhere past two in the morning and she had never felt so exhausted.  
The doctor in front of her was chatting away as he examined the deep gash in her hand. Elena had his personality pegged: he was the kind of man who blathered on when he was nervous. She closed her eyes wearily and wondered vaguely how he could be nervous around _her_. After all, she was exhausted and she highly doubted that she do much more than yawn on any opponent that chose to attack her. Elena was almost tempted to tell the doctor to shut the Hell up but then decided that that would require far too much energy.  
The man had already seen Tseng, Reno, and Rude. Of the three of them, Tseng had only been the one who had been seriously hurt. He had been sequestered away in Detox for nearly an hour. Afterwards, he had been transferred to the Shin-ra wing at the civilian hospital for monitoring overnight.  
Reno and Rude hadn't really been hurt too badly. Both of them had suffered a few minor lacerations, bruises, and burns but nothing too major. Now, it was Elena's turn. Her only major concern was the wound in her hand. It was a disgusting thing to look at. The cut itself was an inch wide and stretched the entire length of her palm. She could hardly move her hand without it protesting. Worse, it wasn't a clean cut by any means. The skin around the wound was jagged and swollen and there were fibres from the rope embedded in it. The parts of her hand that weren't cut were covered with blisters. It was a disgusting mess.  
The doctor examined her hand, chatting all the while.  
"My god, that is quite the sight, isn't it? Well, let's see, let's see. You'll certainly need some materia healing, of course. There's not really enough skin left to stitch. Hmm, it might be possible though. Cuts on the palm are such nasty things. They can take such a long time to heal because they're always being reopened. Hmm, hmm. Hard to say, hard to say. You could certainly use some antibiotics, of course. Nasty thing to get infected. Have to take out those threads there first though. That'll smart. Well, not much help there..."  
Elena thought bleakly that any treatment the man could offer her would probably be less painful that his continual chatter and so she didn't comment.  
  
Twenty minutes later, she was out of Detox and escorting the doctor off of the Turks floor. He fidgeted the entire time until the elevator doors closed and he was free from her presence. Elena shook her head bemusedly.  
"I say you should've shot the bastard."  
Elena grinned and turned around to face Reno. He was sitting down in front of his office, with his head resting against the closed door. She hadn't realized that he was still in the building.  
"I'm off duty, remember?" she asked, grinning at Reno tiredly. He smirked.  
"I think we could've made an exception," he said and they both laughed quietly.  
"Rude's gone?" Elena asked.  
"Yeah," Reno answered. He eyed Elena up and down, taking in the weary slump of her shoulders.  
"Hey, 'Lena," Reno asked, getting up from his resting spot. "Do you want a ride home?"  
Elena was about to refuse his offer but then changed her mind. She didn't really feel like taking the train home.  
"Sure Reno. That'd be great."  
  
Reno always drove impossibly fast. Now that they were practically the only car on the road, he drove even faster. If Elena hadn't been so close to falling asleep in her seat, she probably would've been horrified. Instead, she watched the various buildings around her fly by and blur into one tangled mess.  
It took much less time than she would've expected for them to reach her apartment complex. Despite the incredible speed at which he had been driving, Reno still somehow managed to pull up outside Elena's building without jolting her completely out of her seat. _He's good_, Elena thought to herself. Not that she'd ever admit that to him, of course.  
"Thanks Reno. G'night." Elena said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She was about to get out of the car but Reno spoke up and she paused.  
"'Lena..." Elena looked back at Reno. Surprisingly, his eyes darted away from her. When he looked back at her though, he was smiling.  
"Sleep 'tight 'Lena."  
She smiled.  
"You too Reno."  
She closed the door to his car and wave as he pulled away. Walking back to her apartment, Elena couldn't quite shake the feeling that that hadn't been exactly what Reno had wanted to say to her though.  
  
Reno found himself driving to the edge of the city. There really was nobody else out on the road. Earlier, he had stopped off at a liquor store to pick up a six-pack. In Midgar, there was always a place open if you knew where to look. Truth be told, Reno just didn't want to go home yet.  
It wasn't long before Reno found that he had reached the very edge of the city limits. Here, the highway literally dropped off into nothing. It had never been completed. From here, you could look out in front of you and for once there wasn't the sprawling mass of the city to obstruct your view. It wasn't as impossible to imagine that just under sixty miles from Midgar the ocean was waiting. It was as good a place as any.  
Reno put his car in park and grabbed his keys from the ignition. He leaned over and picked up his six-pack from the passenger seat and headed out to the very tip of the highway. There, he sat down and let his legs dangle over the side. There was something about sitting on the edge of the city that was oddly thrilling.  
He snapped open one of his beers and contemplated the scene before him. Even here, you couldn't see the stars but at least Midgar's lights were a little more muted. It was easier to imagine the stars, Reno thought.  
Drinking quietly, Reno wondered how long it would take for the morning to come.  
  
Elena woke up feeling like she had hardly slept more than a moment. Her head felt too large and her eyes felt gummy. When she sat up, her stomach lurched in protest.  
_God_, she thought to herself bleakly. Naturally, this was the opportune moment for Tom to pounce on her cruelly and attack her with a furious attack of cheerful meowing.  
"Ah Tom!" she exclaimed as her cat suddenly decided to turn her lap into a bed. Elena laughed a little at his antics and scratched him behind the ears to Tom's unending delight. He started up a lively purr to show his appreciation.  
"You are such a big suck," Elena said affectionately.  
Running a hand over her eyes, Elena looked at the clock on her beside table. It was a little past six in the morning. She groaned because it was earlier than she usually cared to wake up but now that she was fully awake, she knew that there was no hope of her falling back to sleep again.  
Elena shifted her position and Tom meowed in protest.  
"I've got to wake up sometime Tom," she chided him quietly.  
Elena kicked off her blankets and moved around her room, stretching. She groaned again when she felt the stiff ache in her back and shoulders tighten. Materia healing not withstanding, she imagined she'd be feeling those for a while. Elena paused a little, suddenly remembering how she had hurt her shoulders. Automatically, she winced and stopped thinking about last night. If there was something that she didn't want to remember, it was Tseng's limp body plummeting down towards the ground unchecked.  
Elena unclenched her fists and looked at the long scar that crossed her palm. She knew the ache she felt in it was just a phantom pain. There was nothing left of the nasty wound on her hand except the scar. The cut was healed and the muscles beneath it surely were as well. Still, looking at her palm, she could remember the burning feeling of the rope cutting into her and the sharp jolt that had flown through her when she had suddenly had to cope with Tseng's mass as well.  
Elena opened and closed her hand experimentally. There was nothing. She could move it perfectly fine now. After all, a Turk needed her hands most of all. The doctor had been very careful to heal the wound completely.  
Elena ran a hand through her sleep-ruffled hair and looked around the room again. It was then that she noticed her PHS lying beside her clock. No matter how tired she had been last night, she had remembered to take out her PHS and lay it close to her bed. A Turk never went anywhere without a phone; they were always on call.  
A small light was flashing on the outer cover of the phone. Someone had left her a message last night. Or this morning, Elena supposed, considering that she had only gotten home closer to three... last night? This morning? She hated staying up late because it always screwed up her internal clock.  
She picked up the small phone and keyed in her code to access her messages. Elena put the PHS close to her ear and listened to the message.  
"Hey 'Lena," Reno's voice said. "Listen: don't bother coming in to work today. I spoke with Heidegger this morning because Tseng hasn't been discharged from the hospital yet. He was satisfied with my debriefing and granted us the day off!"  
Elena could almost picture Reno's smug grin at that line.  
"Anyways, don't even think about coming in to work today! And that's an order!"  
Oh yes, he was definitely smiling.  
"No reports, no nothing 'Lena, all right?"  
There was a long pause on the line before Reno continued.  
"Also, I thought you might like to know... Tseng's gonna be fine 'Lena. He should be out sometime later today..."  
Another long pause.  
"You did a Hell of a job last night 'Lena... Enjoy your day off, k? Bye."  
The line went dead and a mechanical voice asked Elena if she wanted to replay the message. She closed her PHS and the machine went back into standby. Elena cradled the phone for a moment, thinking. Tseng was going to be... She drew in a breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. Tseng was going to be fine.  
There was that peeking memory again: Tseng dangling below her, the rope cutting into her palm. Resolutely, Elena forced it down. Tseng was going to be fine. They had accomplished their mission. Harraway was dead and his entire organization was utterly destroyed. Some other weapons dealer would move in and claim what was left of his assets. Life would go on in Midgar.  
Elena shuddered and she didn't know why. Tom meowed at her concernedly.  
"I'm fine Tom." Elena said absently.  
Running another hand through her hair, she wandered into her kitchen. She paused when she looked at her kitchen table. Her black shoulder bag was hanging on a chair. There were a few neat stacks of paper on the table and Tseng's little black book was sitting self-purposefully on one of them. Almost hesitantly, Elena walked forward and picked up the book. When she touched it, it seemed to her that she was back in Harraway's compound with Tseng. She could see him, leaning forward weakly, his hand clutching his chest.  
Elena ran her fingers across the rough cover of the book. Its texture slithered like a callous across her finger. She didn't care for what she was thinking.  
She was thinking about Tseng sitting in Detox with her after her first mission and about him dangling bloody and broken four stories above the ground. She was thinking about the first night they had had together and the frantic need that she was been shocked to feel. She had been so shocked to _feel_. She was thinking... she was thinking about coming home at two in the morning, about crying herself to sleep, about Reno refusing to ask questions, and about a small, Wutaian woman standing in the background, smiling.  
Elena suddenly felt dizzy and sick. This wasn't right. She knew it with the most instinctive part of herself. Whatever this was, it wasn't right. She was tired of clinging to him. Elena pressed her palm against the flat surface of the book, imagining her scarred hand imprinting itself on the cover. She was so tired. She didn't even know who he was. Sometimes, Elena thought that she almost understood him but the moment was always fleeting. Why was she doing this? It was a dirty, dishonest thing. She had stolen something of his to try and understand him. It was a stupid, pathetic thing to have done. And he, he...  
There he was, distant and forbidding but oh so intriguing. Just thinking about him, Elena felt her love come dangerously close to overpowering her. Intertwined with that ever-present love was a dark tinge of frustration. _She_ was there too. The woman's image was fuzzy compared to the too-sharp picture of Tseng she carried with her in her heart but Elena could still imagine her smiling at him. Why was she smiling?  
Tseng's smiles were always quiet things. They were rare and fleeting but when they shone through it felt like the sun coming up. Elena tried desperately to think of the last time that she had seen him smile, tried to remember if she had ever made him smile, and she couldn't.  
Elena felt her heart clench in her chest, realizing that. She couldn't remember. Had he ever smiled at her with that genuine affection that she imagined was so important for reasons couldn't quite grasp? And when his hands were on her, when she lay down with him, was it even her that he saw? Was it?  
Elena sobbed quietly but forced that pain down. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter, that she loved him and so she could be happy like this, but she knew that she was lying to herself. She wasn't happy. And God, she was so tired of lying.  
Wearily, Elena pulled out a chair and sat down. She opened to book and flipped through its pages. She could almost read it. Soon, she wouldn't need her translations. Very soon, she'd be able to turn to any page and pick out any part and read it fluently but what did that matter?  
It didn't.  
It didn't matter because anything she learnt she had stolen from him. Whatever she felt didn't matter and she had been a fool to believe that it did. No, nothing mattered anymore.  
Elena closed the book and sat it down on her table. Tonight, she'd give it back. Tonight, she would be free from this, one way or another.

-------

Responses:  
  
Fantasy4: Thanks a lot for the review Fantasy4! I agree: there definitely should be more Tseng fics (and Turks fics!) and I'm really glad that you are enjoying this one. I'm sure this doesn't count as updating 'soon' though. I'll try and do better next time!  
  
Heather Cat: Oh yes, they can be deadly when they want to be, can't they? Mwahaha. I'm glad that you enjoyed the action chapter. I did it well? Huge grin Excellent! It was my first attempt and so I really appreciate the feedback. You liked the materia stunt? I'm glad. Heh, I had realized that I had sort of written Rude and Reno into a hole and needed to come up with some interesting way to do damage. I'm just glad it didn't come off as too far fetched. Hmm, Tseng was being unprofessional? Perhaps. Personally, I just think it's because he and Elena seemed to get shot at more often. Heh. Well, I don't know if this update can be considered 'quick' but I did try, if only for fear of your pokage. Thanks for the review!   
Btw, is it just me, or does Elena seem a teeny bit unhinged in this chapter? O.o Heh heh, um... oops?


	10. Salvation: Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thanks go out to Heather Cat for yet another beta-read. That's it.  
  
Salvation (10)  
  
Tseng was lying in his bed, resting his eyes. Despite the treatment that he had received at the hospital, he still felt battered, bruised, and drained. He eyes were just beginning to close when suddenly the harsh sound of his telephone cut through his apartment. Swearing under his breath, Tseng sat up and glared at his PHS but then realized that it wasn't ringing. Someone was trying to reach his home phone.  
Tseng lay back down in his bed. It obviously wasn't the Company calling him. Whoever it was could just wait a few hours.  
  
Elena put the phone down. Maybe he wasn't home yet. God, she had sounded like such an idiot on the answering machine. Maybe she should call him back? No, that was just stupid. She could wait a few hours.  
  
Tseng was dreaming. He knew this because there was no possible way for him to be where he was. The Gods were not so forgiving.   
He was standing in a Wutaian ornamental garden. The edges of his vision were fuzzy but he could make out the faint outline of trees. It was a lush, green garden that was obviously well tended and well loved. The soft scent of cherry blossom trees lingered in the air. Tseng's heart shrank inside him. He was in Wutai and it was springtime.  
When he looked down at himself, he saw that he was wearing the long traditional robes that he had once worn so proudly. They were light brown with beige scrollwork around the neck and sleeve lines.  
His hand trailed up to the back of his hand and found that, yes, his hair was pilled up in a topknot. Great Gods.  
Tseng finally noticed the peculiar weight at his hip and looked down. Sweet Leviathan, it was still there. With unsteady hands, Tseng pulled the empty lacquer sheath from its place at his hip. It was a simple black sheath but etched in painful detail along its length were three Wutaian runes and a beautifully done dragon in gold. _To keep you safe_, a ghost whispered in his mind. Tseng's fingers traced the familiar patterns and he mouthed the words to himself again. The sheath was empty of course; the katana that had once slept there was long gone.  
In the manner of dreams, Tseng found his feet taking him forward to the small, artificial pond in front of him. Involuntarily, he found himself looking down into the clear, silver waters. The water's surface was covered with fallen petals from the nearby trees. Already, the blooms were starting to fade.  
Beneath the water, huge white and orange gold fish swam by contentedly. A few grasping strands of seaweed swayed slowly at the base of the pool. Tseng squinted, watching the water. There was something under the surface.  
A soft current rustled the aquatic greenery and a faint glimmer of silver became apparent.  
"Gods," Tseng swore softly. There it was. Untarnished, untainted, unsullied and shining beneath the pool's surface, his katana lay. Tseng's legs gave out from under him and he collapsed to his knees.  
_This sword will be your heart, Tseng; a beating artery that gives life as easily as take it away. Show it the respect it deserves: never let it tarnish or treat it negligently and, by Leviathan, never leave it bloody. Remember, a katana has a soul of its own. Never use it with an aim unclear or unjust. Most of all, show it the respect it shows you. Once its purpose has been served, sheath it._  
"I can't," Tseng whispered. He knew that the voice lived only in his memory, but still he tried to answer. "I can't."  
Tseng felt a presence draw up behind him. He didn't need to look behind to know who it was.  
"You aren't real," he said to his ghost, his voice cracking on the word. A slender hand rested on his shoulder. He didn't need to ask what she wanted of him; he knew.  
"Oh Gods," Tseng whispered even though he knew They would not answer. Against his better sense, he raised a hand to touch the hand on his shoulder. It was so cold.  
"Gods," he said again, despairing.  
His fingers felt sticky with blood.  
  
Tseng sat up in bed suddenly, his chest heaving. For a moment, he looked around the room wildly. Realization washed over him like a grey film. He raised a hand to wipe his sweat-slicked hair back but then paused. With a painful consideration, he looked at his hands, turning them over in front of him. A shiver ran trough him and he leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. His palms pushed against his eyes and a name died on his lips before it was ever born.  
  
Elena sat on her bed with her legs drawn up to her chest. She was patting Tom with an absent hand. Sometimes, her eyes would stray to a small black book sitting on her beside table. Usually, they looked out the room's small window. It was getting late.  
  
Reno was standing in a side alley. He could be invisible if he chose but tonight he felt like being seen. His eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.  
  
What do you do when a nightmare won't leave you? What do you do when it sinks its claws into your skin and won't let go? How often can you walk down one beaten path and brave its horror over and over again, praying that it will be different but knowing that it will never change? When will your dreaming stop?  
  
The knock at the door startled Elena out of her reverie. Her hand flew to her chest to try and steady her suddenly racing heart. Surely she wasn't this startled?  
Elena got up and walked out of the room, grabbing the book along the way. She wasn't entirely aware of the action though.  
When she reached her front door, she paused and drew a steadying breath. Elena opened it and immediately her eyes widened.  
"Tseng!" she cried and backed away suddenly.  
"God, Tseng, you look..." Tseng walked in past her. _Horrible_, Elena finished mentally. Closing the door behind her, Elena eyed him askance. His jacket was askew, his hair looked ruffled, and there was large dark circle under his eyes. _Maybe he hasn't recovered yet_, Elena thought to herself.  
"Tseng are you..." Tseng turned to face her front on and Elena's words died unspoken. There was something in his eyes that... disturbed her.  
"...Tseng?"  
"What do you want Elena?" Elena's eyes widened at the tone. It sounded so flat and dead.  
"I..." Elena's eyes scanned Tseng's form. "Tseng, what's-"  
"What do you _want_ Elena?" Tseng asked again, his tone suddenly dangerously cold. Elena took a step back involuntarily.  
"I..." Elena suddenly remembered the book in her hands. She was holding it so tightly that her knuckles hurt. Her eyes darted up to his face that seemed so unreachable and then flew back to the floor.  
"I wanted to give you this back."  
Not looking up, Elena presented the book to him.  
The room was suddenly a very quiet place.  
Elena looked up slowly from beneath a few blonde hairs that had strayed in front of her face. Tseng's face was almost painfully neutral.  
"How did you get this?" he asked, his voice eerily quiet.  
"I, I took it."  
"You took it?" A shiver ran down Elena's spine. He words were cool and clipped but she could feel something frightening slithering beneath them. She nodded in small, abrupt motions.  
"I just... I just wanted to give it back." Elena stepped forward to try and press the book into Tseng's hands but he drew back violently. Something akin to a snarl passed across his face.  
"No!" he said with a shocking vehemence. His lips twisted looking at it. "I don't want that. It's a dead thing. A collection of false platitudes mouthed to rotten gods." Elena tried to reach out to him but Tseng only drew back further.  
"Don't touch me!" He looked at her wildly. "Keep it Elena, I don't care. It's nothing to me."  
He shoved past Elena, trying to make it back to the door.  
"Tseng!" Elena called and he stopped, his back turned to her. Elena swallowed harshly. Tseng was practically seething.  
"Tseng... who was she?"  
For a moment, Elena could have sworn that time itself had stopped flowing. Her breath caught in her throat.  
"...What?" The frightening something was crawling its way closer in Tseng's voice.  
"The, the woman. Who gave you the book. Tseng, who was she?"  
Tseng turned slowly to face Elena. Elena felt the colour drain from her cheeks. She wanted to back away from him but couldn't. He walked forward towards her.  
"Who was she?" Too late, Elena realized that she had made some kind of a horrible mistake. Tseng stopped a hand's length away from Elena. She was starting to feel dizzy.  
"Who was she?" he repeated, his voice dripping poison. "Who was she?"  
Suddenly, his hand snatched forward and grabbed Elena's face. He pressed his fingers into the hollows beneath her cheekbones painfully.  
"Who. Was. She?"  
Elena cried out as he pressed harder in his fury.  
Suddenly, he released her and pushed her backwards. She flew back and stumbled to the ground. Tseng walked forward and stood above her.  
And then Elena was six years old again and her father was towering over her. He stunk with what had driven him to this. He had a metal rod in his hand and she had been a bad little girl, oh yes she had.  
Unable to do anything else, Elena drew her hands over her head and shut her eyes. She felt Tseng crouch down in front of her. He parted her hands and lifted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes. In her mind, it wasn't his eyes she was seeing though.  
"You seem to have misinterpreted our relationship, Elena." Tseng's voice was chiselled stone sharp enough to bleed on. "It was a foolish thing to have done. Don't make the mistake again."  
Tseng got up from his crouch and walked away from Elena. He left the book where it had fallen and closed the door behind him.  
When his footfalls had finally stopped echoing outside the hallway, Elena drew in the breath she had been holding. When she did, a great shudder went through her and suddenly she was crying. She was sobbing uncontrollably. She drew her legs up to her chest and cried and cried, knowing that she would never stop.

----  
Responses: Yet again, I have to apologize for taking so long to post that you guys probably won't even remember what you wrote in your reviews. Still, creature of habit, right?  
  
Heather Cat: Heh, so much confidence in one response! {bows} Thank you. {grins} I'm glad you love the 'Reno on the highway' scene. But aren't we all suckers for him? Heh heh.  
  
Fantasy4: I agree: poor Elena! Sorry 'bout the long post though, Fantasy4. Why is it that every time you ask me to post quickly, I take a month? Sorry! Hopefully 11 will come quicker.  
  
Jess Angel: Nice to have you back Jess Angel! So, now that you're reading again, does that mean that we'll all get to enjoy more wonderful Jess Angel stories? Hmm, I'll be looking forward to that!  
I'm glad that you enjoyed the action chapter. As for the materia stunt: sure, use as you will! But, if you do, please put me in somewhere in an author's note like you said. I'm actually really flattered that you like the idea enough to use it though! Thanks a lot!  
I'm glad that you enjoyed chapter 9 too. Hee hee, I loved Reno in this too! I must admit though that when I started writing this story, Reno was not supposed to have a big role in it at all! I wonder why he keeps on popping up all the time?


	11. Salvation: Chapter 11

Author's Notes: Second re-write. Gah.  
  
Salvation (11)  
  
Reno snuffed his cigarette under his boot and glared at nothing in particular. Something didn't feel quite right to him about tonight and it was making him antsy. If he had learnt anything from the years he had spent in the Turks, it was that you never, ever ignored your instincts. So, instead of crossing the street and walking into the bar in front of him, Reno was standing in a back alley lighting up another cigarette.  
He took a long drag on his smoke and his mouth quirked into the tinniest of ironic smiles. Choices, that was what it was all about, wasn't it? What was it that Tseng had told him once, that a man's life wasn't determined by the chances that were forced upon him but by the conscious choices he made? Something like that. _And what if you don't have a choice_, Reno had asked him. _There's always a choice_, he had said, _even if we are too blind to see it_.  
Reno's mouth twitched again and he snuffed his second cigarette under his heel. Choice or no choice, he had an itch he needed to scratch tonight and he wasn't going to fix it standing out here.  
  
When Reno walked into the bar, he had to resist his sudden urge to swear. Always trust your instincts, he reminded himself sourly. Fate had a nasty way of fucking people over when they ignored her warning signals. Bitterly, Reno reflected that there was probably a very good reason for Tseng to be sitting at that particular table in this particular bar. He also knew quite strongly that he didn't want to know what that reason was.  
Naturally, this was the exact moment that Tseng decided to look up in Reno's direction. If Reno had still believed in one, he knew that he would've been cursing whatever sick, twisted deity had decided to wreck havoc on his life tonight. He found his feet carrying him over to Tseng's table without him asking them to and then they turned doubly traitor by refusing to move once he reached it.  
Reno was a Turk. He was paid to notice things. Thus, he wasn't blind to the fact that there were five empty shot glasses in front of Tseng and he observant enough to notice that Tseng's suit was ruffled, his skin a little too pale, his eyes were gritty and bloodshot and, judging by the slump in his shoulders, he still hadn't recovered completely from his injury. He also knew that there were four people sitting at the counter, that that woman in red was a hooker but that she was probably carrying something contagious, that those three men in the back were dealing something illegal, probably drugs, and that that guy near the front was trying to pick up that brunette but he was most definitely going to fail because she was most definitely a lesbian. But that was beside the point.  
Reno stood by Tseng's table a moment longer before the older man gestured for him to sit down. Tseng waved to the waitress to bring them some more shots and Reno mentally catalogued each time that the had ever known Tseng to come out alone and get very deliberately drunk. He pulled up less than a handful.  
The waitress came back and dropped off two shots at their table but Reno didn't bother to watch her come or see her go. He was too busy watching Tseng who was busy watching Reno. Reno was that one who broke away first. It was damn difficult to win a starring contest with Tseng. He grabbed the drink that was in front of him and downed it in one shot. The liquor was strong and burned as it went down but he didn't gag on it.  
"Reno," Tseng spoke suddenly, covering the slight slur in his words well, "I need you to do me a favour."  
"What kind of a favour?" Reno asked without looking directly at Tseng.  
"I need you to go see Elena tonight."  
Reno's eyes snapped to Tseng's face.  
"Why?" he asked.  
"Just do it Reno," Tseng said with probably more bit than he intended. "No questions."  
Reno snorted and contemplated the shot glass in his hands.  
"What is this, an order?"  
Tseng sighed slightly and his voice softened.  
"No Reno, a favour." He paused. "Please."  
Reno chuckled very softly to himself, the way a man laughs when he knows he's been beaten and all he has left to do is laugh over his fate. He pushed himself away from the table and looked down at Tseng for a moment. Without hesitation, he reached across the table and grabbed Tseng's shot as well. It too burned as it went down. Reno hit the glass back on the table and heard it crack on the impact.  
"It's good stuff," Reno said and then he turned and walked away.  
_ I should've stayed outside tonight_, he thought as he walked out of the bar. He turned west to head towards Elena's apartment complex.  
  
Tseng watched Reno's retreating form and frowned deeply. _What am I doing?_ he wondered to himself. Reno didn't need any of this, he knew. Still, he didn't want Elena to be alone tonight.  
Involuntarily, Tseng remembered Elena cowering on the ground with him standing over her. When she had looked up at him, there had been a naked fear sitting in her eyes. Remembering, he felt something clench in his chest and he waved to the waitress again.  
  
Reno knocked on Elena's door. Its echo spread and faded in the empty hallway.  
"'Lena?" he called. No answer. Reno knocked again but there was still no answer. He frowned and then tried the door's handle. He was surprised when it opened without protest. Cautiously, Reno stepped into the dark apartment.   
"'Lena?" he called again. There was a small sliver of light coming from down the hallway. Reno walked silently through the corridor, his eyes and ears straining. He could hear a small dripping noise. It sounded like someone had left a faucet on. Reno's eyes widened when he realized that the one light was coming from Elena's small bathroom.   
"...Elena?" Reno asked quietly. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest. Carefully, he pushed open the bathroom door and walked in. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the bright lights of the bathroom. When they did, Reno sighed and crouched down on his haunches.  
"Elena?" Reno asked again quietly. The smaller woman was sitting with her eyes closed and her back pressed against the wall of her bathroom that was opposite to the room's small sink. The faucet was leaking and the steady drip, drip, drip, of the water was the only noise in the room.  
Without preamble, Reno sat down beside the blonde woman. Cautiously, he placed his hand on her knee.  
Elena's eyes opened slowly. A few stray tears slid down her cheeks.  
"Reno," she said softly, her voice cracking from crying.  
Hesitantly, Reno wrapped his arms around the younger woman and silently invited her to rest in his arms. Elena stiffened momentarily before sighing and giving in to the embrace.  
"Reno," she said again and then suddenly she was crying again. She buried herself deeper in his arms and sobbed on his shoulder.  
For a moment, Reno seemed unsure of himself but then his right hand came up for rest against Elena's back. He leaned his head forward and rested his cheek against the top of her head.  
"It's gonna be alright Elena. It's gonna be okay."  
  
Some time later, Reno felt the pace of Elena's breathing change against his chest. _Asleep_, he thought to himself. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, Reno picked up the younger woman and carried her to her bedroom. He was stronger than he looked.  
He placed Elena down on her bed and drew the covers up around her. His job done, Reno stood and paused, watching the sleeping woman. A strange emotion tried to win against his face's indifferent façade and failed. He turned and walked away from Elena but left the door to her room ajar so that he could hear her if she need him. Right now though, he desperately wanted a cigarette.  
Reno walked out onto the small balcony that was attached to Elena's living room. Outside, the city was sleeping as much as it ever did. There were few lights on in the apartments around him but there were still cars on the roads below. No stars to be seen though.  
Reno lit up his cigarette, a pensive look on his face. He tried to imagine what could've upset Elena so much and he came up with only one thing. She and Tseng had tried to keep the entire thing secret but it wasn't like he and Rude hadn't noticed. They were Turks, after all.   
He tried to imagine what it had been like for Elena and decided that it couldn't have been easy. He had known Tseng for a long time and he was a hard man to get close to. That had been the problem, Reno decided. Elena had probably tried to go too far with him. Reno make a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and tipped the ashes of his cigarette. Secrets, they were all thick with them. Reno suddenly remembered the time that he had brought Elena some soup to cheer her up only to find her kitchen filled with books on Wutaian translations. Of course, that had to be it. Wutai.   
Reno snorted and took a long drag on his cigarette. He had tried to ask Tseng about that too, a long time ago. They had known each other for, what, a year by then? Maybe a little bit more than that. Reno had still been green around the edges and Tseng, well, Tseng hadn't been nearly as hard as he was now. Still, Reno had learnt his mistake very quickly and he had never repeated the question. If Elena had tried to ask him now... Reno shook his head slowly. He didn't envy the woman at all.  
Still, Tseng had no right. He must've done something awful to upset Elena so badly. For a moment, she had almost looked... frightened when he had walked in. What had Tseng done to hurt her so much? Reno turned his back to the city and leaned against the railing. It must've been something drastic to leave Elena this upset and force Tseng into hiding.  
Reno looked up at the starless sky above him. Nights like this he wished he could get out of the city.  
His cigarette done, Reno stomped out the ashes he had left on the balcony and headed back inside. He would talk to Tseng about this in the morning. There was no way he was going to just let this slide. Still, first, he had to look after Elena.  
On his way back to her bedroom, Reno grabbed a chair from the kitchen. He wasn't going to leave her alone tonight.  
When Reno entered Elena's bedroom, two green eyes suddenly popped up in the darkness. Tom had settled beside Elena's sleeping form and now he watched Reno with a sort of inquisitive stare.  
"Hey cat," Reno said warily as he placed his chair beside Elena's bed. Tom stood up and watched Reno questioningly. Reno thought about it for a moment before patting his thigh. Tom accepted the invitation and promptly curled into a ball on Reno's lap. He rubbed his hand through the cat's fur.  
"Just don't tell 'Lena," he whispered. Tom purred softly and Reno looked back over at the sleeping woman. Yes, he was definitely going to have to talk to Tseng.

----  
  
Responses:

Jess Angel: {Grins} I know who she was but you're gonna have to wait {snicker}. I know, evil, I'm sorry.  
Now that you mention it, I see how this fic could be read like a film. It's a little bit odd. Perhaps it's from how I cut scenes? Do you think it's beneficial or does it make it choppy?  
I'm glad that you are planning on starting writing again Jess Angel! I'll definitely stand in line for that. Don't rush it though. I know that a block can be a tough thing. Can I make a suggestion though? Me, when I'm feeling kinda stuck on something, I just sit at my compie and start typing. It doesn't matter what you write, just start typing and don't delete anything. It doesn't even have to be about something in particular or about the story you're working on. If you start writing though, I find it can be easier to write something important later on. I don't know if it'll work for other people, but that's what I do sometimes. Good luck. And thanks for the review!

Heather Cat: Heh, I wonder. {snicker} You found the casual flipping between scenes worked well? Hmm. Interesting. As for pulling this all together, you'll have to wait and see! Ooo, look at me build cheap suspense! Heh heh. Thanks for the review Heather Cat. And thanks again for the beta-read! You're amazing man!


	12. Salvation: Chapter 12

Author's notes: I find this a little ironic. One morning, I literally woke up, went 'oh', and realized what I had to write in this chapter. However, the actual writing of the chapter proved to be a bit more challenging than I had expected. Not only that, the original idea that made me go 'oh' in the first place wasn't even included in this bloody thing. Stupid muses.  
  
Also, the good people that run this site have decided to change their formatting... again. This makes this difficult for me because I don't usually write with double spaced paragraphs. Obviously, I no longer have a choice in the matter. Bloody inconvenient, that is. So, from now on, here's how my formatting is going to have to run. One indent is just a change in paragraph. Because I usually right some short paragraphs, that might become tedius and I'm really sorry. Second, for a change of perspective (ie. place/point of vue) I'll use three dashes (---). For a flashback, I'll just use the word flashback in paratheses. Stars don't work anymore! Sadness. If it's not working out, write me some suggestions, k? Thanks.  
  
Salvation (12)  
  
Elena remembered this scene well. She stood outside a glass window looking into a hospital room where a man lay. To her, he looked barely alive. In truth, the bleeding and a post-surgery infection had nearly killed him. There was something different this time though. The first time Elena had seen this, the man had been nothing to her. She had felt a twinge of sadness for the man who lay so close to death but mostly she had been in awe of him. After all, he had single-handedly killed countless thousands of people.  
  
But this time it was different. This time, Elena knew this man. She knew him and it was killing her to see him enshrouded in wires and plastic tubing with monitors clicking away the slow unsteady beat of his heart.  
  
Tseng also looked in on the scene, his face a cool mask. He had wanted Elena to see the man she was replacing. At the time, his aloofness had seemed appropriate. What do you say to a stranger looking in on your comatose partner? What words could you possibly say to convey the importance of such a thing to an outsider? Now though, his detached presence alarmed Elena. She wanted him to tell her that Reno would be alright, she wanted him to let her share in his grief, but Tseng remained silent.  
  
In her mind, Elena struggled against the memory. She wanted so much to run over to the comatose man and save him from his fate. She wanted to rip out all the intruding wires and unfeeling metal and snap him back to life. But she could not.  
  
As if hearing her silent plea, Reno rolled over in his bed. Elena leapt forward towards the window and pressed her hand against the glass. Mako blue eyes opened and looked out at her blurrily. Impossibly, she heard him speak.  
  
"Elena," Reno whispered.  
  
There was the flash of a memory, a sudden pain in her face and her heart, warm hands and a comforting voice, and then suddenly it wasn't Reno lying in that bed. Another had taken his place. A woman.  
  
Elena stood by her bedside, strangely fascinated by the great impersonal machines that tracked her failing heartbeat. The woman's skin was ashen and grey. Her cheekbones jutted out at strange angles and her eyes were dark and sunken. Her shoulder bones were jarringly visible under her flimsy hospital gown. Though the room was maintained at a comfortable temperature, the woman was sweating and shivering alternatively. Her hair,once a vibrant, lively blonde now clung to her skull limp and thin.  
  
The woman turned her face to Elena and looked at her with dark brown eyes. Even they looked changed. The woman's once warm and loving gaze was clouded almost completely over with pain. Elena trembled when a skeletal hand reached out towards her.  
  
"Elena," the woman whispered to her.  
  
And then it wasn't her mother in that bed but herself. She was seven years old and she was huddling under her covers, shivering and trying so hard not to make any noise. There was a monster outside her bedroom but if she was very still and very quiet, he'd forget about her.  
  
Elena could hear him weeping and raging outside her room but if she was very quiet...  
  
Something crashed outside and Elena let out a small little shriek. Then, suddenly, there was nothing, no sound. And that was infinitely more terrifying than all the other noises.  
  
With an expression of mounting terror, Elena watched the door of her room. The doorknob was turning slowly...  
  
"...Elena?"  
  
---  
  
"Hey, 'Lena!"  
  
Reno shook the smaller woman softly.  
  
"'Lena wake up!"  
  
Elena suddenly threw her hand up around herself and Reno backed off instinctively. For a moment, Elena couldn't remember where she was. She looked around her room wildly. Then, she sighed heavily and lay back down in her bed. She closed her eyes wearily.  
  
"You alright?" Reno asked.  
  
Elena nodded.  
  
"Nightmare," she explained unnecessarily.  
  
"Figured," Reno said simply, taking a seat again in the chair by her beside. Elena was at once relieved and disappointed when he didn't ask her to elaborate. After a moment of silence, Elena added impulsively,  
  
"You were in it, you know." Reno tensed and Elena winced at how that had sounded.  
  
"What I meant was," she said slowly, rolling over to face him, "my nightmare was about you. At the hospital, after Sector Seven."  
  
Reno's face clouded but he didn't comment.  
  
"I'm sorry," Elena said contritely, her eyes turning downcast. "I shouldn't have told you that."  
  
Reno shook his head.  
  
"Nah, 'Lena, it's alright. But that was a while ago. You shouldn't be thinkin' 'bout stuff like that." He paused for a moment. "Sorry if it... made you worry."  
  
Elena gave Reno a peculiar grin.  
  
"Really?" she asked, a little amused. Reno smiled.  
  
"Yeah, really. A rookie like you needs her beauty sleep," Reno teased and Elena laughed quietly. Her face suddenly darkened though and she sat up in bed.  
  
"Reno, about last night..." Reno waved Elena's words away dismissively and she frowned at him.  
  
"No, I'm serious Reno. I wanted to say... thank you. I know you didn't want to get dragged into this-"  
  
"It's alright 'Lena," Reno cut in suddenly. Elena fell silent and Reno seemed to wrestle with his words.  
  
"Look, 'Lena," he finally said, "we're Turks. We gotta look out for each other, right?"  
  
Elena stayed quiet for a moment before answering.  
  
"I think I... I think I made a mistake last night. With him, I mean. But I was just so sick of not really knowing him, you know?"  
  
Reno winced and looked away from the younger woman.  
  
"Elena, look... there are lots of bad people in the world, k? But Tseng isn't one of them." Reno paused for a moment before looking back towards Elena and continuing more slowly. "But any man who hurts a woman, that man's a bad person."  
  
This time, Elena winced and touched her hand to her cheek.  
  
"Are they bad?"  
  
"Noticeable," Reno said honestly. Now it was Elena's time to sigh. She leaned back in her bed.  
  
"I love him Reno," the words caught her and the older man by surprise. Reno was quiet for a moment.  
  
"Then that makes this more complicated," he said eventually. Elena laughed bitterly.  
  
"I suppose it does."  
  
Reno seemed to think it over again.  
  
"Do you want to see him again?"  
  
Elena didn't answer right away. She looked directly at Reno trying to read him but it was an impossible task. He was keeping his face deliberately neutral. _One more mask_, came Elena's unexpected thought.  
  
"Yes," she finally answered. "Yes I do."  
  
Something flicked across Reno's face just for a second but it was gone before Elena really had a chance to take it in.  
  
"Alright then," he said. He stood up then.  
  
"Where are you going?" Elena asked, confused. Reno chuckled.  
  
"Work."  
  
Elena's eyes widened.  
  
"God, what time is it?"  
  
Reno chuckled again.  
  
"Don't worry about it 'Lena. I'll cover for you. In fact, I don't want you coming into work today. That's an order."  
  
Elena frowned and Reno pushed the matter.  
  
"I'm serious. No work, nothin' 'Lena. Just rest up a bit, k?"  
  
Elena nodded and Reno grinned.  
  
"Good."  
  
He turned to leave the room and Elena called out to him.  
  
"So are we back to ''Lena'?"  
  
Reno paused in her doorway. He seemed a little tense to Elena and he didn't turn to face her when he replied.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Last night, you called me Elena. I don't remember you ever doing that before."  
  
This time, Reno turned to face the younger woman. His face was blank again and he shrugged.  
  
"It's just a name."  
  
"Still," Elena pursued, "it was nice."  
  
Reno looked down at his feet. Quietly, he said,  
  
"I could call you Elena if you'd like me to."  
  
Elena frowned looking at Reno. Suddenly, she felt like this conversation had crossed some boundary she had never even noticed before. Her answer suddenly felt very important.  
  
The memory of her dream came back to her. She felt an old ache in her heart remembering her mother whispering that name to her and a vivid scar of fear when she remembered her father but when Reno had spoken to her last night using her proper name she had only heard warmth and concern in his voice.  
  
"Yes," she said softly. Then more firmly, "Yes, I'd like that a lot Reno."  
  
He looked up at her and she smiled at him softly. He gave her a small smile in return.  
  
"Then, rest up... Elena."  
  
Her smile widened.  
  
"I will... and thanks Reno."  
  
Reno grinned, his old self again. Without another word, he left Elena alone in her bedroom.  
  
---  
  
By the time Reno had made it to his car, most of his good mood had evaporated. He swung into his car and made a face similar to a man who had bitten an exceedingly sour grape. Despite what Reno had said to Elena, he hadn't really wanted to get involved in all of this. What he wanted, he reflected bitterly, was a hot shower and a cold beer but he knew he wasn't going to get either of them. For some reason, it seemed to have fallen to him make everything right between the two ill-fated lovers. That irony was not lost upon him but he certainly didn't feel like laughing at it. So, instead of returning home, showering, drinking, and calling in 'sick' he was going to drag his sorry sleep-deprived carcass into work and shove a bit of sense down Tseng's throat. Reno was annoyed enough to smile slightly at that. He had a kink in his neck that was stubbornly refusing to leave him alone and an empty, painful feeling in the back of his head. Even though he had managed to be pleasant for Elena, he felt no such compulsion for Tseng. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Reno's face darkened. There were quite a few things he needed to say to his superior officer today and none of them were going to be pleasant.  
  
Reno pressed down on the accelerator and sped towards the Shinra headquarters.  
  
---  
  
Rude was sitting in his office, reading a newspaper. When there was a distinctive rap at his door, he looked up.  
  
"Hey Rude," Reno said. Rude nodded to his partner. "You seen Tseng?"  
  
"In his office," Rude answered in his brassy rumble. Reno nodded once, spun around, and was gone. Rude pointedly ignored the tension Reno had left in his wake and continued perusing his paper.

---

Reno entered Tseng's office without knocking, a surprising dismissal of that particular office taboo. Tseng looked up at the younger Turk but his face remained impassive.  
  
"Reno," Tseng said simply.  
  
"Tseng," Reno replied, his voice equally cool. For a moment neither of the men spoke.  
  
"What brings you here?" Tseng asked smoothly. Reno's words jumped over his.  
  
"You know damn well why I'm here," Reno snarled. Tseng leaned back in his chair and eyed Reno speculatively.  
  
"You saw Elena?" Tseng asked though the statement was not truly a question.  
  
"Yeah," Reno said, with a nod that was more of a jab. "I fucking saw her. You have some nerve Tseng."  
  
Tseng did not reply which only made Reno angrier.  
  
"What? Aren't you going to at least going to ask how she was? If she was upset or scared or fucking _hurt_?" Reno particularly spat the last word. Again, Tseng did not reply.  
  
"You have some fucking nerve Tseng," Reno repeated. "I just don't get it. A guy like you, it wouldn't be hard for you to find yourself a bit of tail. Shit, walk out to the fucking _street corner_ if that's all your after. I got no problems with that or with you. But what gets me, what fucking _gets me_, is that you think you can do the same thing with Elena. I mean, for fuck sake's Tseng, she ain't 'xactly a fucking hooker! She's a _Turk_ Tseng! I thought that meant something to you, I thought that maybe all that shit you told us about loyalty and dignity and all that crap wasn't entirely bullshit but I guess that you lied to us the exact same way I'm sure you've lied to her!"  
  
At the end of his spiel, Reno was practically yelling and he was seething visibly. Both of his fists were clenched in some sort of last-ditch effort of control. As his last words died in the room, Tseng sat forward in his chair. He looked up at the standing Reno, his eyes dark and unfathomable.  
  
"I have never lied to either you or Elena, Reno." Tseng said quietly and smoothly. "Last night, Elena and I had a disagreement and I was concerned for her well-being."  
  
"So I suppose those bruises just fucking magically appeared on her face, Tseng?" Reno asked sarcastically. That attack seemed to register on Tseng. For a moment, he looked stung.  
  
"That was... unintentional."  
  
"No shit," Reno said, flippant.  
  
Tseng's jawline was becoming tense. Reno could tell he was making him angry and that his boss was fighting to maintain his control but at the moment the younger man truly did not care. He didn't worry about the consequences of his blatant insubordination or the damage it might wreck on his tentative and fragile relationship with Tseng. All he truly cared about at that moment was Elena and her well-being made all of the risks non-consequential. In that moment, Reno's rage did not cool. Instead it peaked and reached a point of white-cool. When he spoke next to Tseng, his voice was icy.  
  
"Tseng, I honestly do not care about you or your past or whatever fucked up relationship you are having with Elena. All I know is that last night I went over to her apartment, like you asked me to, like a good fucking little _Turk_," Reno practically spat the word, "to see her fucking _broken_, do you understand me Tseng? I don't care what you said or what she said or what fucked up _justification_ you think you have in this. To me, it doesn't matter. But I will tell you this. You are going to go see her and you are going to _fix_ whatever it was you said to her. You can break it off with her if you want or you guys can make up and fuck like stupid little bunnies, I don't care. I don't care if you love her or hate her or if you just like getting off with her but you _will_ go see her. Tonight. Now. Because, if you don't I will walk."  
  
When Reno spoke that last line, an uneasy quiet descended in the room. Neither man seemed quite able to process what Reno had just said.  
  
"Reno..." Tseng started slowly but Reno cut him off, his voice continuing in that harsh, uneasy, yet quietly bitter tone.  
  
"Tseng, I don't care about the consequences. Don't say it, I know: there's only one way to stop being a Turk. It doesn't matter. Either you fix what you've done to Elena or I am _gone_ Tseng, gone, and I am not coming back. Because if you can't fix what you've done to Elena, then everything you've ever told me about respect and loyalty and companionship, all the stupid little speeches, everything was a lie, no matter what you say." Reno paused in exasperation.  
  
"How could you?" Reno asked, his voice breaking a little on the question. "How could you just pick her up and... this is _Elena_ Tseng! She's a Turk, and a damn good one too. She wasn't just some girl. She's _one of us_! And if you don't have a problem turning on her, what about me an' Rude, huh? Because Tseng, we need you to look out for us! Shit man, we need you watching our backs just like we watch yours. There's a fuck load of people out there – and in here for shit's sake – that wouldn't mind taking us out. If we can't trust you then who the fuck can we trust? If we can't rely on you to look out for us, who do we rely on? Huh? Nah, I can't do it. I _won't_ do it. Fix this or I'm gone. Because if you can't fix this then there's no fucking reason for me to be here anymore."  
  
At that final statement, Reno finally spun away from Tseng. He was about to leave the room when Tseng's voice, soft as ever, interrupted him.  
  
"How do you even know she wants to see me?" he asked. Reno chuckled softly, bitterly, at that before looking back at Tseng over his shoulder.  
  
"She fucking _loves_ you Tseng. She wants to see you again."  
  
With that, Reno left the room and didn't look back.  
  
================================================================  
  
Responses:  
  
Jess Angel: There's always more Reno. {grins}It's ironic because he was supposed to be something of a comic relief character in this. He certainly changed roles quickly. I wonder if you enjoyed the 'talk' with Tseng? Reno seems to swear a lot when angry. Heh heh. And don't worry. You'll hear plenty about 'her' later on. Next chapter, Elena and Tseng have to talk as well. Then, flashback time. {grins}  
  
I like the word filmatic. It seems too appropriate not to be a word. {grins} I'm glad you find the way I cut scences beneficial. I can't help it. I don't like sticking in one scene too long. So long as it doesn't come across choppy, I'm happy.  
  
And you are very much welcome for the tips on the writing block. Did it help at all? I thought of something else I do sometimes. Ever tried writing to music? With lyrics or otherwise. Sometimes, when I'm writing a fanfic or songfic and I get stuck on something, I play whatever song inspired it (if there was one) over and over again. Sometimes it works even if the song doesn't have something to do with the fic but has the right 'feel' to it, if that makes any sense. I don't know if that'll help or not but I thought I'd pass that along too. Good luck Jess Angel! And thanks a lot for the review!


	13. Salvation: Chapter 13

_Author's Notes_: Sorry to take so long to post. I had my reasons, believe me, but that's not very important right now. One note: a part of the ending of this story was loosely inspired by something Zahra wrote in her incredible story I Know What's Beneath the Snow Fields (www. exnihilio. com). I didn't even realize until I had finished the chapter. In her story, Zahra mused on a soul needing comfort and so do I.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed chapter 12. It was the most gratifying and humbling response I've ever had for something I've posted. I'm so glad that people are actually reading this... I can't communicate my joy appropriately. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and forgive my tardiness. Detailed responses will follow. Thank you all! 

Psst: I just started my own livejournal at www . livejournal . com. Check it out! I'm listed as, surpris surpris, Tijuana Pirate.

Now, on with the show!

Salvation (13)

Despite Reno's ultimatum, Tseng did not rush off to 'fix' things with Elena. It would have been quite impossible. He had work to do and it was almost too easy to lose himself in it. Reviewing old files, cross-referencing various reports from Shinra's massive spy network, and writing careful, accurate, dispassionate accounts of so-and-so's unfortunate accident or Mr. and Mrs. Nobody's tragic passing, Tseng never noticed the sun set on his office.

He was snapped out of his efforts by a quiet knock at his door.

"Come in Rude," Tseng said.

The taller man walked into the office and waited unobtrusively until Tseng looked up from his notes.

"Yes?"

"It's eight o'clock. Good night Tseng."

The most minute of smiles twitched at Tseng's mouth. He'd always appreciated Rude's unique grasp of language.

"Good night Rude."

Rude nodded once and then added almost as an afterthought,

"Don't work too hard."

Without another word, he turned and left. Tseng leaned back in his chair and sighed.

_He's right_, a rogue thought whispered in his head. _You work too hard... though that's not why you're still here, is it?_

Tseng snorted and shook his head lightly, trying to clear his thoughts. He tried to read the latest intelligence report from the Gongaga area.

_Coward..._the voice whispered in the back of his mind. Tseng resolutely shut it out and kept working.

It was hard to focus. He was far more tired than he would admit to himself. His shoulder was aching softly and he rubbed it lightly.

Elena had... saved his life. She was a remarkable woman.

Involuntarily, the memory came again: him, standing over her, fear in her eyes.

Tseng hissed under his breath and pushed himself away from the desk. _Don't lose your focus_, a dead man whispered in the back of his mind.

Tseng winced and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes wearily.

"Elena, why couldn't you just let it be?"  
  
---

Elena sat on her balcony with her knees drawn up to her chest. The air was chill but not unpleasantly cold. Tom had his tiny, warm, fuzzy body pressed against her thigh and Elena was patting him absently. She had come out to watch the sun set on the city and had remained to watch the moon gain control of the sky. Its huge white light seemed muted, as if its life was being devoured by the city that had swallowed the stars.

Elena had been thinking distractedly all night long. She hadn't set about it in any manner of organized process. She hadn't weighed the pros and cons of her situation, hadn't studied in detail the recent turns of her life, but her thoughts had undergone a subtle reorganization. Elena felt as if she were moving away from one point of her life into another. It was a reconstruction, a metamorphosis.

Watching the moon with wide brown eyes, Elena realized that she had finally reached a conclusion after hours of silent debate. She knew what she was going to say to Tseng.  
  
---

There is an old story in Wutai about a village being terrorized by a horrible beast. After many brave men had lost their lives trying to defeat the creature, a delegation from the village decided to consult a witch-woman that lived in a nearby forest. She read her auguries and pronounced that either the entire village would be consumed by the monster to appease its voracious appetite or one man, proclaimed by Leviathan, would defeat the creature and inevitably lose his life in the conflict.

The villagers were overjoyed and begged the witch to tell them who their saviour was. The witch turned her blind eyes to the village chief and proclaimed that he alone could save his people and that he would surely die in the attempt. The chief accepted this gravely and the villagers returned to their homes to wait out the night.

The next morning, the villagers walked to their chief's house to bid their leader adieu only to realize that he had fled during the night.

That evening, the creature returned and slaughtered every single one of the villagers, man, woman, and child.

The moral of the story is two-fold. First, even great, respected, and powerful men can be weak. Second, not even the Gods can force a man to make the right choice. That path can only be walked by the man alone.  
  
---

Despite how hard he had tried, Tseng had never forgotten Wutai. It permeated every aspect of his life. There were moments when he woke up and the eastern words he spoke sounded harsh and foreign on his tongue. There was a moment just before he opened his eyes that he was sure he was six and two thousand years younger. It always passed. He would wake up and realize that, yes, this was his life. He was a Wutaian man living on foreign soil and he could never go home. 

_They_ were often there as well, at night and in the early morning.

Wutaian people believe that the souls of the brave dead soar across the sea to dwell with Lord Leviathan in Paradise.

They whisper that the souls of the unworthy - cowards, thieves, rapists, murderers, and traitors – are damned for all eternity.  
  
---

Tseng was standing outside Elena's building. Reno's harsh words echoed in his head. Angry, bitter, hurt. He had a right to be.

_She loves you._

_Why?_

Tseng stood immobile in front of Elena's apartment complex. He was at war with himself. A part of him wanted to leave this place. He could patch things up with Reno, he lied to himself. He didn't have to stay here. Another part of him, the one he still respected, held him firm. He could not tell which one was losing though.

"Tseng!" a familiar voice pulled him away from his inner struggle. Elena walked forwards cautiously.

"I was coming to see you," she explained awkwardly when he did not respond. She seemed as surprised as he was at their sudden meeting. It seemed to neither of them had had enough time to prepare themselves for this confrontation.

Tseng eyes took her in. The wind was teasing her hair and her brown eyes were looking at him questioningly. Unlike him, she was out of uniform, wearing only a pair of grey cotton slacks and a black hooded sweatshirt. Even now, she was beautiful.

"Will you... will you come in?" Elena asked cautiously. She tilted her head up slightly to see him better and the moonlight illuminated the fresh bruises on her cheeks. Something crumpled inside of him and he nodded numbly. Tseng allowed himself to be lead into the building.  
  
---

As strange as it might sound, Tseng had never been inside Elena's apartment before. He had given her a ride home a few nights and had even stood in her doorway once or twice but he had never actually been inside.

For that reason, he was slightly hesitant about walking into the place. Elena, however, quickly encouraged him to do so. She led him into her kitchen and let him sit down at her table. Tseng did all of this without any visible reaction. Elena hovered beside the table for a moment.

"I was going to make a pot of tea. Would you like some?"

"Yes, thank you," Tseng said quietly.

Elena moved off to set the kettle to boil and Tseng took a moment to appreciate his surroundings.

The kitchen was painted in a light tan colour. The cupboards and table were made of oak. It was a modest but pleasant looking place.

From the kitchen, you could walk down two steps into the living room. The room was only separated from the kitchen by an oak railing, the architect obviously wishing for an open concept. Though it was dark in the living room, Tseng could make out the outline of a couch, a chair, a small coffee table and a wooden entertainment centre.

"It's not much, but it's home," Elena said, smiling softly as she brought over the tea. She leaned forward to pour Tseng a cup of tea and once again he was struck by the sudden shocking sight of her bruises.

"Thank you," Tseng said, taking his cup. He was quiet a moment.

"Elena," he began but then she held up a hand to forestall him. He was both surprised and oddly grateful that she didn't want him to speak.

"Tseng," Elena started but then she too paused as if not entirely sure how to begin. The apartment was quiet.

"I've been thinking," she said quietly. "I've been thinking for a long time and I realize now that I made a mistake. It was wrong of me to ask you... that."

"Elena-" Tseng said trying to interject but once again Elena quieted him.

"What I mean is, it was wrong of me to ask you about that when I was not prepared to talk about myself as well.

That made Tseng pause. He had nothing to say to that and so Elena continued speaking softly, starring at the cup of tea she held cradled in her hands.

"I know that as Turks we don't ask questions and I've always been grateful for that. It was reassuring to know that none of you would ever push me to talk about anything."

"But," Elena said, looking pointedly at Tseng, "I know now that I want to tell someone. I'm tired Tseng; tired of carrying my secrets all alone. Nobody knows the truth of any of it and it's hard for me. I thought I could go on the way I always had but I can't. So, I'm asking you if you'll listen to me."

For a moment, Tseng was quiet. The memory came again: black bruises against soft pale skin. Gods help him, what choice did he have? Not truly looking at Elena, Tseng spoke softly.

"I will listen."

Elena nodded slowly and swallowed. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I think that my family was pretty well off when I was born. I don't remember too much of it but I'm sure we must've lived up here on the Plate.

When I was about three or four, another one of those wasting sicknesses passed through the slums. Normally, that sort of thing doesn't much bother the people up on the Plate but I guess my family was just really unlucky.

My mother died two weeks after the infection set in. There was nothing anyone could do.

My father was never the same man afterwards. He started drinking a lot. Eventually, I guess he lost his job because I remember moving out of our house into a small apartment. Even that didn't last.

Of course, there was only one place left for us to go after that.

I don't know how long I lived with my father down in the slums. It seems like a very long time. He was drinking all the time so we never had any money. God only knows how he got any of it. I basically just tried to stay away from him but I was just a kid."

Elena paused and swallowed harshly.

"I think it upset him that I looked so much like my mom. It was... pretty rough."

Elena paused again before continuing.

"I was so afraid of him, I never even thought of leaving. It all happened by accident one day...

We'd been living in some sort of abandoned two-story apartment complex. I think I was nine or ten. I'm not sure.

One day, my father he got... he got angry with me and I ran out. He chased me. I made it to the stairs but he grabbed me from behind and I spun away. I think... oh God, I think I might've pushed him because then he was falling and there was nothing I could do.

There was a woman in the hall and she just started screaming. And then she was screaming 'He's dead! He's dead!' and I just ran.

God, some nights I can still hear her..."

Elena stopped again and visibly shook herself before continuing.

"After that I was on my own. I fell in and out of the various kid gangs they have down in the slums. We were more like packs of scavenging animals than companions.

There was a time when I was travelling solo and I was squatting in Sector Seven. There was a woman there too. To this day, I don't know if she really was trying to be kind or if she was a recruiter or something but she told me that she knew someone who could hook me up with a job. A real job, the kind you got paid for. At least it would get me something to eat.

I had no idea what they wanted me to do the first time but you learn awful quick.

My pimp would take about eighty percent. I lived in a room with six other girls. Everyone would try and keep a piece for themselves but most of the girls were on something. I tried to stay clean but it was hard. Sometimes the johns would want to shoot up before so...

I have no idea how long I lived like that. Honestly, I have no idea. I think I might've been about seventeen when I sold to the Don. The really twisted thing is that it was the best thing that had even happened to me.

The Inn was... a society onto itself, I suppose. There were all sorts of hidden rules that you just ended up learning by osmosis. The consequences of not following them were, well, blatant. It was hard but it was so much better than what we had all come from. I suppose we were all... grateful.

Every one of us had our favourite clients. They'd come in just for us, their own special girls. We each had a sort of trick, a talent I suppose. There were all kinds of girls. Blondes, brunettes, but it was more than just that. We had virgins and girls that could act like virgins if you wanted them to. We had the bondage girls and the dom girls. Girls from every corner of the slums and so all the corners of the world. The Don was particularly fond of the wutaian girls. They were his favourites.

I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have told you that...

We didn't make any money, per say but we did get a place to sleep and somewhere to eat. Most of us would get little presents from some of our johns. The girls would trade them for things they couldn't live without. We might've been off of the streets but the habits die hard, you know? I suppose for most people they never die at all.

Me, I had always tried to stay clean. When I'd make a little bit of money, I'd hide it away. Eventually one day I had enough for what I really wanted.

At the Inn you didn't have any kind of choice in anything. You couldn't buy your way out or anything like that. We were way too valuable to be sold again. We became the favourite toys of some of the most powerful men – and women – of the slums and the Plate. I didn't harbour any illusions about that.

What I wanted, as stupid as it sounds, was a computer.

I know that sounds weird but computers had always fascinated me. It was weird. You could be the smallest, most unimportant person in the world but when you were online, there wasn't anything you couldn't do. It was amazing.

So I saved up all the presents, pawned them for half their value, and eventually managed to get one. It was a garbage machine but it was mine, you know?

I don't know why the Don let me keep it. I figure it might've amused him, having himself a little hacker hooker in his club.

I got to be pretty good at what I did though. There was something exhilarating about sneaking into places I had no right to go. I never really did anything. I wasn't there to 'bring down the system'. It was way too dangerous for someone like me to try anything like that. I'd just break into a computer network, snoop around for a while, and then cover my tracks.

After I'd been at the Inn for about two years, I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. One night, the Don called me into his private room dinning room. I'd never seen the inside of it before. It wasn't usually where girls like me had to go. I'll never forget it. The Don was sitting at a table with a man I didn't recognize right away. Then, he nodded slightly to the man before leaving the room. I couldn't believe it. Here was the Don deferring to another man in his own room. It petrified me. There were only one group of people the Don would ever treat so carefully.

I'd never had dealings with the Shinra before. Oh, sure, you'd get the occasional manager or employee, but this was different. The man just casually gave me his name. He didn't have to explain what department he was from, I knew already. Everyone knew.

Heidegger, head of the Shinra Public Maintenance and Order Division, one of the most powerful men in the world. I was terrified.

He had a proposition for me. One of my johns was a huge drug tycoon named Tyron Schaefer. He must've had some kind of a disagreement with Shinra - I never knew the details - but they wanted to take him in. The only problem was that Schaefer practically owned Sector 8. He was untouchable. Except when he was at the Inn.

It wasn't very hard what they asked me to do. I had a little discreet wire tap hidden in my room. Schaefer wasn't stupid. He never came to the Inn at the same time. It was always spontaneous. He kept all his movements secret. My job was to send a signal to the Shinra when he came and keep him occupied only somebody came...

I'll never forget that day... you were just so suddenly there. I didn't understand what had happened until it was actually over. I could see one of the guards lying unconscious outside but mostly I remember Schaefer. You had him hand cuffed and he was begging, begging you to let him go. He practically owned Sector 8 but he couldn't win against you."

Elena stopped for a moment and discreetly at Tseng from under her eyelashes. As unreadable as ever but she could've sworn she'd seen _something_... Swallowing again, she continued.

"That was when I knew I wanted to be a Turk.

My arrangement had been simple with Heidegger. He'd asked me what I wanted and I told him I wanted out of the Inn. He promised me he'd arrange it. Then, I told him I wanted a job at Shinra and he had sort of smiled sickeningly and promised he'd find me something. He probably figured he could turn me into some manager's secretary. You know, a little perk for one of the real keeners. But that wasn't what I wanted.

The night after you took Schaefer away Heidegger showed up in my room. I'd sent him an encoded message on his personal server to get his attention. I told him what I wanted and he laughed at me in that stupid hoarse laugh of his. He told me that he'd be happy to find me some work more suitable to my talents.

So I pulled out a diskette of some data I'd pulled out of the Shinra mainframe. It seemed that Heidegger had been embezzling money from the company for almost four years.

He could've killed me, I suppose, but I was desperate. It also helped that I had ten different copies of the file hidden in various hacker nodes in all sorts of computer networks. They were set up like little time bombs. If I didn't dismantle their code in twelve hours, they would broadcast their information to all of the most integral parts of the Shinra network.

Heidegger didn't have a choice. He gave me everything I wanted.

Maybe he thought that the job I was asking for would eventually do his dirty work for him. He didn't have anything to lose. Best-case scenario, I died within my first two weeks on the job but the information was still capped. Worst case, well, the information was capped and he had himself a Turk with good hacking skills. He had a hole in his force anyway.

I left with him that night and I never went back."

Elena's words finally died and the kitchen was quiet. Elena clenched her hands to keep them from shaking. Though she had done her best to keep her composure, she felt it wavering now that the story was finally done. There was something horribly frightening and exhilarating to have it all out in the open. Trying her best to steady herself, she watched Tseng and waited for him.

He remained quiet for a long time. In truth, Tseng was locked in a difficult internal struggle. The weight of Elena's story lay heavily on him. Her small voice, struggling to tell the story dispassionately, still echoed faintly inside him. A part of him recognized that it always would. The brutal honesty that she had shared with him astounded him and tortured him. A part of him realized that he could conceivably walk away from this conversation unchanged. It was possible. He could accept what Elena had told him, ignore all the petty details of her narrative, and simply walk away. He could crush any grating emotion that confronted him and simply carry on as he always had. Cool, professional, unchanged.

Elena, in her innocence, had asked nothing of him in return. She had not asked again about his past and she had not bartered away hers for his. Instead, she had done something far nobler. She had simply told him her story. The depth of trust that she offered him was dizzying. Yet, because she asked nothing of him, he could still walk away from all of this. It might be the logical thing to do. If he left, he would remain protected. He could still remain aloof, unfeeling. Nothing would change.

But there was a small, small part of him that didn't want to leave this table, this room. There was a small part of him that was aching to stay. It was a voice that he had not listened to in a long, long time, a voice that whispered to him of long-forgotten ideals, of honour and responsibility. It was a voice that had died in Wutai while he had continued on to live. It would be so easy to crush it again, ignore that part of himself, call it dead and walk away.

And yet the voice persisted. Why was it that Elena always aroused such torment within him?

Tseng allowed himself the luxury of studying Elena sitting across the table. She met his gaze stare for stare. Still beautiful, if he allowed himself to accept that, but there was something greater inside her that fascinated him. What kind of a woman, he found himself wondering, could offer up that much of herself for nothing at all? Why do it?

_She loves you_.

_Why?_

The bruises that Tseng had left on Elena's face were a shocking contrast against her cream coloured skin. Looking at them, Tseng remembered again the feel of her beneath his hands. He could remember her trembling body, her horrified eyes. Gods help him, he remembered her eyes most of all. Wide, brown, petrified, they haunted him. Yet at the time all he had felt was that terrible anger, no pity, no remorse, only anger. How could he have let it all come to this?

What can a person do when they are faced with a crime for which they cannot repent? What can a soul do when it is denied comfort indefinitely?

Everything repeats itself, Tseng mused sadly. One more woman led to suffer because of him. One more sin heaped upon him.

And yet here sat Elena, not condemning him, not blaming him. Instead, she offered up herself to him. She gave away what he could not: the pain she had long lived with. She shared it with him to lessen her burden. She gave him all of her trust without asking anything in return. What kind of a woman could do that?

Finally, Tseng broke away from Elena's gaze. He couldn't stand to look at her anymore. He felt nauseous with her eyes on him. He stared down at the table, looking at nothing, his torment easy to see.

Perhaps Elena had sensed some of his inner battle or perhaps she understood him better than she believed. For whatever reason, Tseng felt Elena reach across the table and touch his hand softly. Comfort, unlooked for, unasked for, and yet given without hesitation.

To Tseng's surprise, he felt his hand tightened around hers for a moment. Her hand felt soft in his. Then, he loosened his grip and Elena moved away from him again. Her eyes never left him.

There is a type of shame that can never be lessened, a type of transgression that can never be forgiven. A person could live an entire life trying to atone for their sin and fail forever. Sometimes, there is no one left to forgive them. Sometimes, they just have to learn to forgive themselves. Sometimes, it's a burden that's impossible to carry alone.

Finally, Tseng felt the courage to meet Elena's gaze again. She smiled very slightly when he did so. Tseng did not, could not, smile but his eyes softened a little as he looked at her. Then, he sighed quietly. There were so many things that he wanted to say to her that he likely never would. There was one thing at least that he could do.

"I was born in the village of Goshan in the southern Wutaian province of Gi'Jhin. My mother's name was Tetsaiya. She lived only long enough to give me my name..."

(Flashback)  
  
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**Responses**: Ha ha! I did it! About time, eh? Thanks so much for all of your reviews! They mean so much to me! Thank you so much!  
  
_Redshiftnova_: I'm glad you like what I did with Elena's character. It's been tough but I'm glad ppl like what I'm doing.  
  
_SetsuntaMew_: Yeah, I suppose it is a little on the angsty side... blush  
  
_Faile666_: Ah, thank you! that's very kind... And yes, Turks do rule. Mwahaha.  
  
_Sabriel41_: Ah, I'm so glad you're reading this! I remember way back when you first reviewed this. I guess I owe Heather Cat a thank you. Heh, my unofficial PR representative. Thanks for your comments on the characters. Grr, they can be frusterating sometimes. And I'm glad you picked out the star imagery. I'm secretly proud of that one. blush  
  
_Dazma_: Hey, you're still here! I had thought that you'd given up on the story I hadn't heard from you in so long. Nice to know you're still around.  
  
_Cobaltdragonfly_: Thanks for the review! I agree: the Turks are so much more than comic relief. Not that they can't be comical... chuckles again at idea of Elena and Reno in a closet  
  
_Rora_: Thanks for the review! Yes, there should be many, many Tseng fics. Let's start a revolution. Down with the Vincent fangirls and up with the Turks. Mwahaha.  
  
_Jess Angel_ : Always nice to hear from you Jess Angel. Sometimes it felt like only you and Heather Cat were reading this. I'm not complaining, but you two were the only ones to review consistantly. It was nice to have ppl to count on... And about Reno's role... I must admit, no, I didn't expect it... right up until the point he brought Elena soup. Then I _knew_ and then everything went to Hell. heh heh heh... And guess what? Next chapter... or maybe the one after... you finally get to meet _her_! You know, funny as it is, you already know her name... I gave it away in an earlier chapter. grins  
  
_Heather Cat_: Last but never least... heh heh heh. Look, it's posted! I _finally _did it! I told you: everything gets done eventually. So, when will I get some BSoF? Mm, love that story. I glad you liked the dialogue. I nearly killed myself writing it but it was fun all the same. Gah, too much angst. Maybe I'll revert to writing fluff... heh, maybe not, but it's a nice thought, eh?  
  
All right, that's it. Flashback next chapter! Tseng in Wutai... gonna be fun.


	14. Salvation: Chapter 14

**Author's notes**: Oh my goodness, the hiatus was enough to nearly kill me. I'm so sorry to all of you people. I hope that it never happens again.

So, back to that story I was writing... -blushes- I'm going to make a serious effort to update more frequently from now on. This story never died to me... it just had to be put on a back shelf for a little while.

A small explanation as to what I'm going to try and pull with the next chapters. They are supposed to give an insight into wutaian culture and Tseng's childhood. Oddly enough, the beginning portion of each chapter is going to talk a little bit about Reno, his motives and his background, and the main portion of every chapter talks about Tseng's time in Wutai. I'm going to seperate long flashbacks using a line and I'll always start the 'Tseng' portion of a chapter with a short proverb. I hope that it won't get too confusing.

And now, without further ado... Oh, and please refrain from tar and feathering me 'till _after_ you've read the chapter! -grins-

* * *

Salvation (14)

Reno leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. So, she'd gone back to him after all. He wasn't surprised, really. She was that kind of a woman.

Reno closed his eyes and reached for a cigarette. He was tired. Worse, he felt old. Heh, he didn't need to count the years to know exactly _how _old he was. It probably would've surprised most people. They were all younger than they looked. Even she was. What did they call it… an accepted causality. That had always made him laugh. Cause and effect. Midgar and the scars it left on its people. It was a disgusting city.

Sometimes he wondered if the others noticed it. The way she sometimes flinched if you snuck up on her. The small scars on the backs of her arms that she took pains to try and hide. It wasn't hard to guess who and what she had been before she came to join them, though he had never asked. That would have broken the taboo. There were some things that you just could not ask people.

Reno traced a scar on his cheek with an absent finger. There were some stories that were better left untold. Sometimes he wondered how much Tseng knew about any of it, how much she had told him. An ironic smile touched Reno's lips. Gods knew that he did not have the pleasure of her confidences.

Jealousy? There was no point to it. So many things would always be out of his reach. Envy couldn't even come into play.

After all, the dead can't envy the living.

_

* * *

__Pride is wutaian.  
__Wutaian proverb._

"Leviathan once swam alone in the oceans of this world. They say that he had once traveled through the very darkness of space until he settled upon this desolate planet. In the beginning, this place had no land, only the unending ocean and sky and the great god was content for many eons to swim in this emptiness alone.

However, the god soon grew weary of his endless solitude and sought to end his isolation. Using one of his sacred fangs, Leviathan pricked the very tip of his tail and let his blood flow through the vastness of the ocean. From this holy mixture of the god's blood and the salt of the sea, all the small and great creatures of the ocean rose up. They were Leviathan's first people and so are most sacred by the gods.

For some time, Leviathan swam with his people, reveling in their presence. There came a point, however, where he in his infinite wisdom realized the importance of Balance. Do you understand what I mean?"

"No, Grandmother."

"Everything is balanced in the universe, child. The sun and the moon. The land and the sea. Life and death. Leviathan realized that the vastness of his ocean home was incomplete and would someday decay into chaos for it lacked that necessary equilibrium. There can be no completion without opposition.

Thus, with a heavy heart, he plucked forth three of his holy scales and cast them into the ocean. The divine magic hidden within them took root in the ocean and from them three great continents sprang forth. There, all manners of creatures arose, small and large. Plants, birds, animals, people, they were all brought to life by the power of the god's scales.

They did not, however, please Him.

He looked upon these earth-bound creatures and found in them little of the divine spirit with which he had so deeply blessed his first people. He looked upon his creation and decided to make a new, different people. He plucked from his great maw one of his fangs and cast it out into the sea. From that fang sprung forth a vast, twisted continent, a harsh and inhospitable land not truly fit for life. For a time, the god despaired thinking that no creatures would take root there. Then, the god noticed a miraculous sight. Upon the shoreline, a tiny blade of grass was growing. The sacred waters, remembering the taste of the god's blood and relishing in the feel of his fang, had called forth a tiny speck of life. The grass grew upon the sandy beach, half covered in water, struggling to survive. The god looked upon that small blade of grass and pitied it for its life was cruel.

In his wisdom, the great god decided to bless that barren shore. He pricked once again the tip of his tail and with one ounce of his breath raised a great tidal wave to wash over the land, carrying his sacred blood with it. When the water receded, the god was astounded by the transformation. Life, unexpected and unlooked for, now flourished there. The god looked on in amazement at his youngest creatures all unique and well-suited for their mountainous home. There, he witnessed the first man and woman of Wutai come forth. They looked out into the vastness of the ocean and saw the face of their god and immediately fell down in worship This pleased the great lord immensely for the other land-dwelling people had only cowered in fear at the god's terrible countenance. Thus did he name these last, youngest of his creatures his one true people.

For many years the lord dwelt off the shores of the youngest continent, teaching ancient and forgotten lore to the people of Wutai. However, there came a time when the god longed once more for the vastness of his ocean home and he drew away from the island. The wutaian people despaired and prayed for his return and Leviathan decided to grant them a great boon. He swore to them that he would create a land apart for them, a place of life after death where those that died in glory could travel to. There, he swore, they would meet him again and dwell forever in the lands of Paradise, a Paradise that he would create for them beyond the horizon, a place where they could dwell with him in glory beyond the ocean."

The old woman fell silent and looked to the young boy sitting across from her. He was perhaps four years old, his eyes already too somber for his years.

"Do you understand, Tseng?" she asked the child gently.

"…That's… that's where Mother is."

The woman sighed.

"Yes, child."

* * *

_"There's too much blood Grandmother!"_

_"Nokomis!"_

_"Miro, this is no place for a man!"_

_"Miro! Oh Gods!"_

_"Tetsaiya!"_

_"I can see the child!"_

_"Sweet Gods please!"_

_"Grandmother, what should I do?"_

_"Hold her down!"_

_"Miro, Miro…"_

_"Tetsaiya!"_

_"Grandmother! The child… he's not breathing!"_

_"Tend to him!"_

_"My son, my son!"_

_"Tetsaiya, hold on!"_

_"Miro…"_

_"Sweet Gods!"_

_"Tseng, my son…" _

_"…Tetsaiya?"_

* * *

"Yes, that's exactly right." 


	15. Salvation: Chapter 15

**Author's notes**: I should note that Tseng is about seven in this part of the story. I also must admit that I first stumbled across the name Nokomis is the novel The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint. Nokomis is a goddess-type figure in Native American myth.

My apologies if there doesn't seem to be much going on in this chapter. It's my attempt at subtely.

* * *

Salvation (15)

Someone had once told Reno that the only way to start a story was at the beginning. He personally thought that that was bullshit. Where did any story truly begin? For him, his end was his beginning. There was a moment where everything went blank. He was a video tape, he sometimes thought. Pause, stop, rewind. Play again.

For anyone else it might've been melodramatic to say that he had died but not for Reno. Some nights he could still feel it, his heart stopping in his chest. He had watched the world fade to black around him. He could even remember the exact moment when he had stopped breathing. He had died. He _should_ have died.

But that wasn't the beginning.

The problem was that he remembered _everything_. That wasn't the way that these things were supposed to happen. If someone was going to go through the trouble of ending your life, they should do it properly. God, it would have been so much simpler if he had just died.

He could still see her, laying there, eyes cold and empty watching him die. In that moment, he had _wanted _to die.

These things were supposed to be simple. Life and death, they were the cardinal truths. Nobody could cross that line. Nobody should be forced to.

Reno touched a spot slightly above his heart. It had been right there. That had been the bullet that had killed him. There had been another that had buried itself in his left lung, another in his hip and one more in his stomach. He remembered all of them them. Some nights he woke up screaming because he could still feel them ripping into his body.

If there is no beginning then there can be no end. Where does the past end and the present begin? There were too many links, too many similarities. What separates now and then?

He didn't want this. He didn't want any of this. There were too many connections, too many parallels. God, you didn't need to be a doctor to understand it. Two women, both young, both beautiful, both slightly jaded, both a little vulnerable. God, they were even both _blonde_. It was just too much.

There was a name that he would never utter, a story that he would never tell. The last thing he had seen before the dark had closed in on his world had been her eyes, staring wide and beautiful into his.

She had died. He had watched her _die_.

...Malina. Her name had been Malina._

* * *

_

_A woman is like water flowing. She can sustain a man and give him life but may drown him all the same.  
__Wutaian Proverb_

Tseng stood at the edge of the bluff, looking outon the unending ocean. Tall grasses whipped around his feet and his hair, clumsily pulled back into a boy's ponytail, flew about in the wind. Eyes too serious for a child's plush and unfinished features took in the scene before him. His black clothes contrasted sharply with the grey, stormy sky. The wind was stirring the ocean into a frothing mass of salt and sea foam. The boy stood at the edge of the cliff, unafraid. It was a long, long way down to the water below.

"Tseng!" a woman's voice called the boy's name and he spun around. A middle-aged woman came trudging up the hill towards him. She was breathless by the time she made it up.

"Tseng, where have you been? Honestly, I don't know how your poor father puts up with you! Always out and about, never a care to where you should be."

"But I finished helping Master Kiosh mend his fence hours ago."

"And you never though to tell you father that, hmm? Poor man wanders in, gloomy as a storm cloud, Leviathan bless his soul, wondering if I knew where you were! As if I don't have my own responsibilities to tend to in the village!"

"I'm sorry, Goodwife Serona."

"Sorry never mended a fence Tseng."

"But I mended the-"

"I'll not have you talking back to me, silly boy!"

The woman grabbed Tseng by the sleeve of his robe and began pulling him down the slope.

"I don't know how your father puts up with you. I swear there's not an ounce of sense in your body! Honestly. And with your poor mother gone, Leviathan take her soul…"

Tseng's eyes looked down to the ground. He didn't hear the rest of the woman's tirade.

"I'm sorry," he said to no one in particular.

_

* * *

_  
Tseng sat on his knees in his father's house with his eyes on the floor and his hands on his thighs. His father was standing above him. 

"Where were you?" he asked with eyes like flint trained on his guilty son. His tone was flat.

"At Evana's point, Father."

"Why?"

The boy paused a moment before answering.

"…No reason, Father."

Miro was silent a moment.

"It was wrong of you to leave without telling an adult. It's not safe for a child to wander the cliffs alone."

Always the same speech but he'd never been hurt before and so what was the problem?

"I'm very disappointed in you Tseng."

Tseng closed his eyes wearily.

"I'm sorry, Father."

Miro made a non-committed noise in the back of his throat. When he spoke, his tone didn't change.

"Go tend to the goats in the pasture now. They can't be left to roam."

"Yes Father."

"And as punishment, you'll have no supper tonight Tseng."

Tseng shrunk down a little bit lower. He was already hungry.

"Yes Father."

They were both quiet.

"May I go now?"

"Yes Tseng.

Tseng stood to leave avoiding his father's eyes until the sound of his voice stopped him

"Tseng, tonight Grandmother Nokomis is coming for tea. If you are done your chores by the time she arrives, you may sit with us for a time.

"Yes Father."

Without another word, Tseng walked out of the room.

* * *

**  
Responses: **

Drakonlily: Ha, sorry I'm making you miss out on work m'dear! Though I'm grateful for the interest. Don't do that too much though! Work is somewhat important, you know. (wink) Thanks for mentioning the repitition. I'll fix it whenever I have the chance. Also, thank you for the lovely compliments. (smiles)

Cendrillo: I have way too much fun with mythology. Part of the reason why I'm writing Salvation is because I want to talk about Wutaian mythos and ideology and history... Hopefully it'll turn out okay. (grins)

Fantasy: (cringe) I'm sorry I took so long to update. I was away at school and writing just didn't seem to work for me there... Hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly from now on! Thanks so much for staying with this story though! It's very humbling and I'm definitely going to do my very best to post as much as I can.


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